Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and non-transitory computer readable storage medium

ABSTRACT

An information processing apparatus according to the present application includes an acquiring unit and a deciding unit. The acquiring unit acquires attribute information on a user. The deciding unit decides, based on the attribute information acquired by the acquiring unit, a placement position in which a virtual riding point that corresponds to a riding point that is used for the user to ride in a moving vehicle and that is virtually set is placed.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

The present application claims priority to and incorporates by referencethe entire contents of Japanese Patent Application No. 2017-223180 filedin Japan on Nov. 20, 2017.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

The embodiments of the present invention relates to an informationprocessing apparatus, an information processing method, and aninformation processing program.

2. Description of the Related Art

Conventionally, a technology for managing an operation of buses has beendisclosed.

For example, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2015-184779discloses a technology for creating timetables of target paths on whichmoving vehicles run.

However, in the conventional technology described above, the convenienceof users who use moving vehicles is not always enhanced. For example, inthe conventional technology described above, based on demands for movingin a time zone in a target path that is targeted for creating thetimetable and based on the capacity of the moving vehicles, the numberof needed moving vehicles in the time zone is calculated. Then, in theconventional technology described above, based on a period of time inthe time zone that is targeted for creating the timetable and based onthe calculated number of needed moving vehicles, operation intervals inthe time zone targeted for creating the timetable are calculated andthen, based on the calculated operation intervals, the timetable that isused to operate the moving vehicles running in the target path in thetime zone targeted for creating the timetable is created.

In the conventional technology described above, because it is possibleto create operation timetables with high accuracy, this makes itpossible for, for example, an operation manager who manages theoperation of the moving vehicles to reduce a delay of each of the movingvehicles and, consequently, there is a possibility of increasing theoperational track record. Namely, the conventional technology describedabove has the potential of producing a higher effect for the operationmanager. However, in the conventional technology described above, theconvenience of the users who use the moving vehicle is not alwaysenhanced.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to at least partially solve theproblems in the conventional technology.

According to one aspect of an embodiment, An information processingapparatus includes an acquiring unit that acquires attribute informationon a user. The information processing apparatus includes a deciding unitthat decides, based on the attribute information acquired by theacquiring unit, a placement position in which a virtual riding pointthat corresponds to a riding point that is used for the user to ride ina moving vehicle and that is virtually set is placed.

The above and other objects, features, advantages and technical andindustrial significance of this invention will be better understood byreading the following detailed description of presently preferredembodiments of the invention, when considered in connection with theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of information processingaccording to an embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of information processingaccording to a first embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of aninformation processing apparatus according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a virtual bus stopposition information storage unit according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of an operation schedulestorage unit according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a user informationstorage unit according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of an operational trackrecord storage unit according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the informationprocessing according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of information processingaccording to a modification in the first embodiment;

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of aninformation processing apparatus according to a second embodiment;

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating an example of information processingaccording to the second embodiment;

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of aninformation processing apparatus according to a third embodiment;

FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating an example of information processingaccording to the third embodiment;

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of a riding intentiondetermination process according to a fourth embodiment;

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of aninformation processing apparatus 400 according to the fourth embodiment;

FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a riding intentiondetermination process according to the fourth embodiment; and

FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating an example of the hardwareconfiguration of a computer that implements the function of theinformation processing apparatus.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

A mode (hereinafter, referred to as an “embodiment”) for carrying out aninformation processing apparatus, an information processing method, andan information processing program according to the present applicationwill be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Theinformation processing apparatus, the information processing method, andthe information processing program according to the present applicationare not limited to the embodiments. Furthermore, in the embodimentsbelow, the same components are denoted by the same reference numeralsand overlapping descriptions will be omitted.

1. Outline of Information Processing

First, the outline of information processing according to an embodimentwill be described with reference to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a diagramillustrating an example of information processing according to theembodiment. An information processing system according to the embodimentincludes an information processing apparatus SV and a terminal device10. Although not illustrated in the drawing, in the example illustratedin FIG. 1, each of users (users U1, U2, and U3) holds the terminaldevice 10. The information processing according to the embodiment isperformed by the information processing apparatus SV illustrated inFIG. 1. For example, the information processing apparatus SV is aninformation processing apparatus that is implemented by a single or aplurality of devices, such as a server device or a cloud system, thatcan communicate with the terminal devices 10 used by the users via anetwork, such as a mobile communication network or a wireless local areanetwork (LAN).

The information processing performed by the information processingapparatus SV will be described in detail later by using threeembodiments, specifically, by using a first embodiment, a secondembodiment, and a third embodiment.

The terminal devices 10 are information processing apparatuses used byusers. The terminal devices 10 are, for example, smart phones, tabletterminals, notebook personal computers (PCs), desktop PCs, mobilephones, personal digital assistants (PDA), or the like. Furthermore, itis assumed that in each of the terminal devices 10, an application(hereinafter, referred to as a “riding guide application AP”) that canbe used to search an operation situation of a route bus and the positionof individual bus stations of the route bus is previously installed.

The riding guide application AP acquires, in cooperation with theinformation processing apparatus SV according to the embodiment, variouskinds of information related to the route buses from the informationprocessing apparatus SV and shows the acquired information to a user.For example, the user can register the name of the usually used busstations in the riding guide application AP as “favorite registration”.In such a case, the riding guide application AP acquires, at anarbitrary timing, the information related to the bus station registeredas “favorite registration” from the information processing apparatus SVand shows the information to the user.

Furthermore, it is assumed that the moving vehicle targeted by theinformation processing apparatus SV is an “on-demand bus”. The on-demandbus is a type of a route bus and, if a user carries out a process byusing a communication method, such as the Internet, the on-demand busgoes to pick up a user to, for example, a virtually placed bus stationvia, for example, a detour route that is not the basic route.Hereinafter, the bus station that is virtually placed in this way isreferred to as a “virtual bus stop”, in contrast to a physically placedbus station (hereinafter, sometimes referred to as an “existing busstop”) that is conventionally present in a basic route.

2. Outline of Information Processing Associated with the FirstEmbodiment

The information processing apparatus SV places a virtual bus stop at anarbitrary position by taking into account the attribute information on auser, road information, traffic situation, and the like. For example, auser can designate a riding desired position (hereinafter, sometimesreferred to as a “desired position”) desired by the user to ride on anon-demand bus with respect to the information processing apparatus SV.However, if the virtual bus stops are placed by the informationprocessing apparatus SV as desired by all of the users and iftransportation in a detour route passing through all of the placedvirtual bus stops is designated to the on-demand bus, for example, adelay occurs in the operation schedule of the subject on-demand bus.

Accordingly, in a predetermined area including the basic routedetermined for each of the on-demand buses, for example, the number ofvirtual bus stops to be placed in each predetermined area is limited.Consequently, the information processing apparatus SV calculates, fromamong the riding desired positions received from the individual users, aplacement position by determining which riding desired positions is morefair for a virtual bus stop in terms of each of the users and thenplaces the virtual bus stop at the riding desired position that isassociated with the calculation result.

Furthermore, if a user having the attribute information (for example,expecting a baby or affected by a disease) indicating that, for example,a heavier burden may possibly be imposed at the time of moving ispresent from among users who designated their riding desired positions,even if inequality occurs in terms of the moving distance viewed fromthe other users, the information processing apparatus SV places thevirtual bus stop at the position in which a burden of the user who hasthe attribute information indicating that a heavier burden may possiblybe imposed at the time of moving can be reduced.

This point will be described with reference to the example illustratedin FIG. 1. First, in the area indicated by a MAP1 indicated by (a)illustrated in FIG. 1, it is assumed that an on-demand bus B1 runs inthe basic route RT10. Furthermore, existing bus stops ST1 and ST2 arepresent in the basic route RT10. Furthermore, the position informationon the position of the existing bus stop ST1 is “S-PT1” and the positioninformation on the position of the existing bus stop ST2 is “S-PT2”.

Furthermore, in the example of (a) in FIG. 1, a user U1 has theattribute information indicating “35 years old and a pregnant woman”.Furthermore, in the example of (a) in FIG. 1, the user U1 designates adesired position “DP11”. Furthermore, in the example of (a) in FIG. 1,the current position of the user U1 is a current position “HP11”.

Furthermore, in the example of (a) in FIG. 1, a user U2 has theattribute information indicating “20 years old and a male”. Furthermore,in the example of (a) in FIG. 1, the user U2 designates a desiredposition “DP21”. Furthermore, in the example of (a) in FIG. 1, thecurrent position of the user U2 is a current position “HP21”.

Furthermore, in the example of (a) in FIG. 1, a user U3 has theattribute information indicating “55 years old and a male”. Furthermore,in the example of (a) in FIG. 1, a user U3 designates a desired position“DP31”. Furthermore, in the example of (a) in FIG. 1, the currentposition of the user U3 is a current position “HP31”.

In this state described above, the information processing apparatus SVacquires the attribute information on the users and decides, based onthe acquired attribute information, a placement position in which avirtual riding point that corresponds to a riding point that is used fora user to ride in a moving vehicle and that is virtually set is placed.For example, the information processing apparatus SV calculates, basedon the moving distance of a user and based on the user attributeinformation, a moving cost that is a cost needed for the user to movealong the moving distance. Then, the information processing apparatus SVdecides the placement position based on the calculated moving cost.Furthermore, in the area indicated in the MAP1, it is assumed that onlya “single piece” of virtual bus stop can be placed.

In the example of (a) in FIG. 1, it is conceivable that, because theuser U1 is a pregnant woman, a physical burden imposed at the time ofmoving is heavier than that imposed on the users U2 and U3. For example,if one of the desired positions “DP21” and “DP31” is decided as theplacement position in which a virtual bus stop is to be placed, themoving distance of the user U1 becomes long and thus the physical burdenis increased. Accordingly, the information processing apparatus SVdecides, from among the three desired positions, a desired position DP21that is designated by the user U1 and that has the shortest movingdistance for the user U1 when the user U1 moves from the currentposition HP11 as the placement position in which the virtual bus stop isto be placed.

If the desired position DP21 is decided as the placement position inwhich the virtual bus stop is to be placed, the moving distance becomeslong for the users U2 and U3. Specifically, because the user U2 movesfrom the current position “HP21” to the desired position “DP11” that wasdesignated by the user U1, instead of the desired position “DP21” thatwas designated by the user U2 by himself, the moving distance isincreased. Similarly, because the user U3 moves from the currentposition “HP31” to the desired position “DP11” that was designated bythe user U1, instead of the desired position “DP31” that was designatedby the user U3 by himself, the moving distance is increased.

However, based on the attribute information on the users U2 and U3,because it is estimated that the physical burden is smaller than that ofthe user U1 at the time of moving, even if the moving distance isincreased because the virtual bus stop is not placed at the originaldesired position, the desired position “DP11” is the most fair placementposition when the attribute information and the moving distance for eachof the users U1 to U3 are comprehensively judged.

Based on the above circumstances, if the information processingapparatus SV receives designation of riding desired positions from aplurality of users under the condition that the limitation is set to theplacement position of the virtual bus stop, by considering the attributeinformation and the moving distance for each of the plurality of users,it is possible to place a virtual bus stop at a more fair position interms of the plurality of users. Furthermore, because of this, theinformation processing apparatus SV can enhance the convenience of userswho use moving vehicles (for example, an on-demand bus).

Furthermore, in the example of (a) in FIG. 1, if the desired position“DP11” is decided as the placement position, regarding the user U2, themoving distance from the current position “HP21” to the existing busstop position “S-PT2” is shorter than the moving distance from thecurrent position “HP21” to the desired position “DP11”. In such a case,there is no point for the user U2 in showing a riding desired position.Accordingly, the information processing apparatus SV may also decide, asthe placement position, the position in which the moving distance isshorter than the moving distance from each of the current positions ofthe users U1 to U3 to the existing bus stop in terms of each of theusers U1 to U3 and the moving distance from the user U1 is the shortest.For example, the information processing apparatus SV may also decide aposition “XP10” as a placement position.

3. Outline of the Information Processing According to a SecondEmbodiment

For example, if the placement position of the virtual bus stop is tooclose to the position of the existing bus stop, the significance ofplacing the virtual bus stop with such a positional relationship is lowfrom the viewpoint of solving a problem by simply using the existing busstop. Furthermore, if a plurality of placement positions are set, if thedistance between each of the placement positions is too close, thesignificance of placing the virtual bus stop with such a positionalrelationship is low from the viewpoint of solving a problem by simplysetting either of the placement positions.

Furthermore, if the virtual bus stop is placed in the positionalrelationship described in the above example, an on-demand bus needs tobe frequently stopped and thus the operational efficiency is conceivablydegraded. If the on-demand bus needs to be frequently stopped, the costneeded for the operation is conceivably increased. In order to avoidsuch situations, the information processing apparatus SV specifies aplacement available position that is the position in which a virtual busstop can be placed and then decides the placement position based on thespecified placement available position.

For example, in the example of (a) in FIG. 1, it is assumed that acircular area with a radius R centered at a position “S-PT1” in which anexisting bus stop ST1 is present is provided and it is previouslydetermined that a virtual bus stop is not placed in the subject circulararea. Furthermore, similarly, it is assumed that a circular area withthe radius R centered at the position “S-PT2” in which the existing busstop ST2 is present is provided and it is previously determined that avirtual bus stop is not placed in such a circular area.

Furthermore, although not illustrated, also regarding the virtual busstop, it is assumed that a circular area with the radius R centered atthe subject placement position, it is previously determined that anothervirtual bus stop is not placed and an existing bus stop is not present.Thus, the circular area with the radius R regarding each of the busstops is the placement prohibited area in which no virtual bus stop isplaced. In other words, the information processing apparatus SV canplace a virtual bus stop in an area other than these placementprohibited areas.

Thus, the information processing apparatus SV specifies a placementavailable position that is the position in which a virtual riding pointthat corresponds to a riding point that is used to ride in a movingvehicle and that is virtually set can be placed and decides, based onthe specified placement available position, a placement position inwhich the virtual riding point is to be placed. In the exampleillustrated in FIG. 1, the information processing apparatus SV sets theplacement position based on the information designated by the users U1to U3 and based on the attribute information as described above and, atthis time, the information processing apparatus SV specifies, as theplacement available position, the area other than both the circular areawith the radius R centered at the position “S-PT1” in which the existingbus stop ST1 is present and the circular area with the radius R centeredat the position “S-PT2” in which the existing bus stop ST2 is present.Then, the information processing apparatus SV decides the placementposition at the specified placement available position and places thevirtual bus stop at the decided placement position.

Consequently, because the information processing apparatus SV does notplace a virtual bus stop at the position, for example, that is too closeto the position of an existing bus stop, the information processingapparatus SV can efficiently suppress a decrease in the operationalefficiency of a moving vehicle (for example, an on-demand bus) and anincrease in a cost needed for the operation of the moving vehicle.

4. Outline of Information Processing Associated with the ThirdEmbodiment

For example, if on-demand buses are operated in accordance with anoperation schedule, there may be a case in which a time zone in which alot of users are present (for example, the commuting rush hour timezone) or a time zone in which few users are present is generated.Because the on-demand buses are operated in accordance with theoperation schedule, in an extreme example, an on-demand bus needs to beoperated even if the number of users is “0”. If an on-demand bus isoperated even if no user is present, only the operation cost isconsequently increased. Based on this, an operation company desires thatthe on-demand buses are constantly used in any time zone. Thus, theinformation processing apparatus SV provides various incentives to usersin order to encourage a users' willingness to use the on-demand buses.

Specifically, the information processing apparatus SV acquires a usagesituation of a user who has used the moving vehicle and provides apredetermined incentive to the user in accordance with the acquiredusage situation. For example, the information processing apparatus SVdetermines, based on the acquired usage situation, whether the user hasused the moving vehicle in the predetermined time zone or at apredetermined location. Then, the information processing apparatus SVprovides the predetermined incentive to the user in accordance with thedetermination result. This point will be described with reference to theexample indicated by (b) illustrated in FIG. 1.

In the example of (b) in FIG. 1, it is assumed that a placement positionis decided based on the information designated by the users U1 to U3 andthe attribute information on the users U1 to U3 and it is assumed thatan on-demand bus B1 has been used for a ride at the decided placementposition. The information processing apparatus SV can acquire the usagesituation of the on-demand bus B1 via, for example, various sensorsprovided inside the on-demand bus B1. For example, the informationprocessing apparatus SV can acquire the usage situation such asinformation indicating when and from where a user rode in an on-demandbus running which of the target destinations (destination) as the basicroute.

In the example of (b) in FIG. 1, the information processing apparatus SVindicates an example in which the user U1 used the on-demand bus B1running between “14:00 and 15:00”. Here, if it is found that a usageamount (the number of users) of the on-demand bus B1 used between “14:00and 15:00” is smaller than the average usage amount of the on-demand busB1 per day, an information processing apparatus 100 provides anincentive to the user U1 in response to the fact that the user U1 usedthe on-demand bus B1 between “14:00 and 15:00” for which the usageamount is low. For example, the information processing apparatus 100sets the fare (250 yen) lower than the fare (set to 300 yen) that isoriginally to be paid by the user U1.

Furthermore, if it is found that a usage amount (the number of users) ofthe on-demand bus B1 used between “10:00 and 11:00” is smaller than theaverage usage amount of the on-demand bus B1 per day, the informationprocessing apparatus 100 provides an incentive to the user U3 inresponse to the fact that the user U3 used the on-demand bus B1 between“10:00 and 11:00”. For example, the information processing apparatus 100sets the fare (280 yen) lower than the fare (set to 300 yen) that isoriginally to be paid by the user U3.

In contrast, the information processing apparatus 100 does not providean incentive to the user U2 who used the on-demand bus B1 used between“8:00 and 9:00” for which the usage amount (the number of users) of theon-demand bus B1 used is greater than the average usage amount of theon-demand bus B1 per day due to the commuting rush hour.

Consequently, the information processing apparatus SV can provide, to auser, a motivation to use the on-demand bus B1 in such an attractivetime zone in which the fare becomes lower, thereby equalizing the usagesituation in which the on-demand bus B1 is used.

First Embodiment

1. Example of Information Processing

In the following, an example of the information processing according tothe first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 2. FIG. 2is a diagram illustrating an example of the information processingaccording to the first embodiment. The information processing systemaccording to the first embodiment includes the information processingapparatus 100 and the terminal devices 10. Although not illustrated inthe drawing, in the example illustrated in FIG. 2, each of the users(the users U1, U2, and U3) has the terminal device 10. The informationprocessing according to the first embodiment is performed by theinformation processing apparatus 100 illustrated in FIG. 2. Theinformation processing apparatus 100 is an example of the informationprocessing apparatus SV described with reference to FIG. 1. For example,the information processing apparatus 100 is an information processingapparatus that is implemented by a single or a plurality of devices,such as a server device or a cloud system, that can communicate with theterminal devices 10 used by the users via a network, such as a mobilecommunication network or a wireless local area network (LAN).

The information processing apparatus 100 can accept a riding reservationfor an on-demand bus from a user via the “riding guide application AP”.For example, the information processing apparatus 100 can accept ariding reservation for an on-demand bus on the date of the current andthe subsequent date. For example, the information processing apparatus100 can accept, as the riding reservation for the on-demand bus, thedesignation of the riding desired position indicating the position thatis desired by a user to ride on the on-demand bus. For example, byshowing candidate positions that are the candidates for the placementpositions that can be placed for the virtual bus stop to a user, theinformation processing apparatus 100 can accept the selected positionfrom among the candidate positions as the riding desired position.

Furthermore, the information processing apparatus 100 can acquire an“immediate call” for the on-demand bus from the user via the “ridingguide application AP”. The “immediate call” is a process that can beurgently responded when compared with the riding reservation and the“immediate call” can be restated as an allocation instruction of amoving vehicle dispatched to the current position of the user. Forexample, the user can request an “immediate call”, such as “a requestfor an allocation of an on-demand bus around the current position (forexample, own house) within 15 minutes from the current time”.

In the first embodiment below, the information processing performed in acase where a designation of a riding desired position is accepted from auser as a riding reservation will be described, the content of theprocessing is the same when the immediate call is performed.

Specifically, the information processing apparatus 100 acquires theattribute information on a user and decides, based on the acquiredattribute information, the placement position in which a virtual ridingpoint that corresponds to a riding point that is used for a user to ridein a moving vehicle and that is virtually set is placed. For example,the information processing apparatus 100 further decides the placementposition based on the position information on the user. The positioninformation mentioned here is the information (desired riding positioninformation) indicating the riding desired position that was designatedat the time of riding reservation or the information (current positioninformation) indicating the current position designated at the time ofimmediate call. Furthermore, because the current position designated atthe time of immediate call is also the position desired by a user for aride, the current position information at the time of immediate call canbe restated as desired riding position information.

Furthermore, for example, based on the attribute information and themoving distance of the user to the position indicated by the positioninformation, the information processing apparatus 100 calculates amoving cost that is the cost needed for a user to move the movingdistance. Then, the information processing apparatus 100 decides theplacement position based on the calculated moving cost. This point willbe described with reference to the example illustrated in FIG. 2.Furthermore, in the example illustrated in FIG. 2, it is assumed that,in the area indicated by the MAP1, it is previously determined that themaximum of “two” virtual bus stops can be placed.

Similarly to the example of (a) illustrated in FIG. 1, in FIG. 2, theuser U1 designates the desired position “DP11”. Furthermore, in also theexample illustrated in FIG. 2, the current position of the user U1 isthe current position “HP11”.

Furthermore, similarly to the example of (a) illustrated in FIG. 1, inFIG. 2, the user U2 designates the desired position “DP21”. Furthermore,in also the example illustrated in FIG. 2, the current position of theuser U2 is the current position “HP21”.

Similarly to the example of (a) illustrated in FIG. 1, in FIG. 2, theuser U3 designates the desired position “DP31”. Furthermore, in also theexample illustrated in FIG. 2, the current position of the user U3 isthe current position “HP31”.

For example, the information processing apparatus 100 acquires, as theattribute information on a user, age information on the user, genderinformation, information related to a health condition, informationrelated to a physical disability, and information related to presence orabsence of an infant. Furthermore, the information acquired as theattribute information is not limited to this. FIG. 2 indicates anexample in which the information processing apparatus 100 has acquired,for example, as the attribute information on the user U1, the age of“33”, the gender of “female”, the health condition of “pregnant woman”,and the physical disability of “null”. Furthermore, FIG. 2 indicates anexample in which the information processing apparatus 100 has acquired,for example, as the attribute information on the user U2, the age of“20”, the gender of “male”, the health condition of “good”, and thephysical disability of “null”. Furthermore, FIG. 2 indicates an examplein which the information processing apparatus 100 has acquired, forexample, as the attribute information on the user U3, the age of “55”,the gender of “male”, the health condition of “good”, and the physicaldisability of “null”.

Then, the information processing apparatus 100 calculates, for eachpieces of the attribute information on the users, an attribute scorethat is the score indicating the attribute information. A method ofcalculating the attribute score is not limited. For example, theinformation processing apparatus 100 calculates a high score as theattribute information possibly indicates a heavier burden at the time ofmoving. For example, the information processing apparatus 100 cancalculate the age information (“33” in a case of the user U1) as theattribute score “33” without changing anything. Furthermore, regardingthe attribute information indicated by “female”, the informationprocessing apparatus 100 can calculate the attribute score of “2” thatis higher than the attribute score of “1” associated with the attributeinformation indicated by “male”.

Furthermore, the information processing apparatus 100 can calculate ahigher attribute score as the attribute information indicates that ahealth condition is conceivably worse. For example, when calculating themaximum value of “10” with respect to the attribute informationindicating that a health condition is conceivably the worst, theinformation processing apparatus 100 can calculate the attribute scoreof “8” that is associated with, for example, the attribute informationof “pregnant woman”. Furthermore, regarding the attribute information of“physical disability”, the information processing apparatus 100 cancalculate a higher attribute score as the physical disability is moresevere.

Then, the information processing apparatus 100 calculates a moving cost.The moving cost is a cost needed for a user to move the correspondingmoving distance and can also be stated as the information that indicatesthe level of a physical burden imposed on a user at the time of movingthe associated moving distance.

Here, in the example illustrated in FIG. 2, three desired positions,i.e., a desired position DP11 designated by the user U1, the desiredposition DP21 designated by the user U2, and a desired position DP31designated by the user U3, are present. As described above, because theinformation processing apparatus 100 can place the maximum of “two”virtual bus stops, the information processing apparatus 100 decides,from among the three desired positions, which of the two desiredpositions are set as the placement positions. In the example illustratedin FIG. 2, the information processing apparatus 100 calculates a movingcost of each of the users for each combination of the possible desiredpositions and calculates the sum total of each of the calculated movingcosts. Then, from among the sum totals of the moving costs calculatedfor corresponding combinations of the desired positions, the informationprocessing apparatus 100 decides the position with the smallest sumtotal as the placement position.

Furthermore, an example of a method of calculating a moving cost foreach combination of the desired positions will be described later. Theexample illustrated in FIG. 2 indicates a case in which the informationprocessing apparatus 100 decides, regarding the user U1, the desiredposition DP11 designated by the user U1 as the placement position (firstplacement position). Furthermore, the example illustrated in FIG. 2indicates a case in which the information processing apparatus 100decides, regarding the users U2 and U3, the desired position DP21designated by the user U2 as the placement position (second placementposition).

Furthermore, although not illustrated, the information processingapparatus 100 shows information indicating that a virtual bus stop isplaced at the desired position DP11 and shows guide information forguiding the route to the virtual bus stop to the user U1. Similarly, theinformation processing apparatus 100 shows information indicating that avirtual bus stop is placed at the desired position DP21 and shows guideinformation for guiding the route to the virtual bus stop to the usersU2 and U3.

Consequently, the information processing apparatus 100 according to thefirst embodiment can place a virtual bus stop at fair positions in termsof a plurality of users. Furthermore, the information processingapparatus 100 according to the first embodiment can enhance theconvenience of users who use moving vehicles.

2. Configuration of the Information Processing Apparatus

In the following, the information processing apparatus 100 according tothe first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 3. FIG. 3is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the informationprocessing apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment. Asillustrated in FIG. 3, the information processing apparatus 100 includesa communication unit 110, a storage unit 120, and a control unit 130.

Communication Unit 110

The communication unit 110 is implemented by, for example, a networkinterface card (NIC), or the like. Furthermore, the communication unit110 is connected to the network N in a wired or wireless manner andsends and receives information to and from, for example, the terminaldevices 10.

Storage Unit 120 The storage unit 120 is implemented by, for example, asemiconductor memory device, such as a Random Access Memory (RAM), or aflash memory, or a storage device, such as a hard disk or an opticaldisk. The storage unit 120 includes a virtual bus stop positioninformation storage unit 121, an operation schedule storage unit 122, auser information storage unit 123, and an operational track recordstorage unit 124.

Virtual Bus Stop Position Information Storage Unit 121

The virtual bus stop position information storage unit 121 is thestorage unit that stores therein candidates for the positions of thevirtual bus stops to be placed. Here, FIG. 4 illustrates an example ofthe virtual bus stop position information storage unit 121 according tothe first embodiment. In the example illustrated in FIG. 4, the virtualbus stop position information storage unit 121 has items, such as“prefectures”, “company”, “path ID”, “position information(coordinates)”, and the like.

The “company” indicates the name of the route bus operation company thatis present in the associated “prefectures”. The “path ID” isidentification information indicating the route in which the route busoperated by the associated “company” runs. The “position information(coordinates)” indicates position information that indicates theposition in which a virtual bus stop can be placed and that indicates acandidate for the position in which the virtual bus stop is placed.

Namely, the example illustrated in FIG. 4 indicates a case in which,from among the routes in which route buses (on-demand buses) operated bythe route bus operation company “TK traffic, Inc.” that is present inthe prefecture “Tokyo”, a virtual bus stop can be placed at thepositions “X1 and Yl” in the route (20 path route) identified by thepath ID “20”.

Operation Schedule Storage Unit 122

The operation schedule storage unit 122 is a storage unit that storestherein an operation schedule for each on-demand bus. Here, FIG. 5illustrates an example of the operation schedule storage unit 122according to the first embodiment. In the example illustrated in FIG. 5,the operation schedule storage unit 122 has items, such as “companyname”, “path ID”, “schedule information”, and the like.

The “company name” and the “path ID” have been explained with referenceto FIG. 4; therefore, explanation thereof will be omitted. The “scheduleinformation” indicates an operation schedule of an on-demand bus. In theexample illustrated in FIG. 5, a concept symbol (for example, “DA20”) isused as the “schedule information”; however, in practice, for example,the departure time, the target destination, the arrival time at thetarget destination, map information indicating the basic route, and thelike are stored.

Namely, the example illustrated in FIG. 5 indicates a case in which theroute buses (on-demand buses) operated by the route bus operationcompany “TK traffic, Inc.” that is present in the prefecture “Tokyo” areoperated by the schedule indicated by schedule information “DA20”.

User Information Storage Unit 123

The user information storage unit 123 is a storage unit that storestherein various kinds of information (for example, attributeinformation) related to users. Here, FIG. 6 illustrates an example ofthe user information storage unit 123 according to the first embodiment.In the example illustrated in FIG. 6, the user information storage unit123 has items, such as “user ID”, “age”, “gender”, “health condition”,“physical disability”, “infant information”, and the like.

The “user ID” indicates identification information for identifying auser or the terminal device 10 of the user. The “age” indicates the ageof a user. The “gender” indicates the gender of a user. The “healthcondition” indicates information related to the health condition of auser (be pregnant or the like). The “physical disability” indicatesinformation related to a physical disability of a user. For example, the“physical disability” indicates whether a user has a physical disabilityand indicates, if so, what kind of physical disability the user has. The“infant information” is information related to presence or absence of aninfant or information whether or not to accompany an infant.

Namely, the example illustrated in FIG. 6 indicates a case in which, theattribute information on the user U1 indicates the age of “33”, thegender of “female”, the health condition of “pregnant woman”, thephysical disability of “null”, and the infant information of“accompanying an elementary school student”. Furthermore, although notillustrated, the information processing apparatus 100 may also furtherinclude a storage unit that stores therein information that is used tocalculate an attribute score that corresponds to information (value)indicating the attribute information. For example, by referring to thisstorage unit, the information processing apparatus 100 can determinewhether what kind of attribute score is needed to calculate for thehealth condition of “pregnant woman”.

Operational Track Record Storage Unit 124

The operational track record storage unit 124 is a storage unit thatstores therein information related to the operational track record of aroute bus. Here, FIG. 7 illustrates an example of the operational trackrecord storage unit 124 according to the first embodiment. In theexample illustrated in FIG. 7, the operational track record storage unit124 has the items, such as “company”, “path ID”, “date and timeinformation”, “delay information”, and the like.

The “company” indicates the name of a route bus operation company. The“path ID” is identification information indicating the route in which aroute bus (on-demand bus) operated by the associated “company” runs. The“date and time information” indicates the date and time on which a routebus runs in the section indicated by “delay information”. The “delayinformation” indicates the section in which a delay occurs in theoperation schedule in the route identified by the “path ID”. Forexample, in the section in which bus stations with a large number ofpersons getting on or off are continuously present, a delay tends tooccur in the operation schedule.

Namely, the example illustrated in FIG. 7 indicates a case in which, inthe route (20 path route) identified by the path ID “20”, in the periodof time indicated by the date and time information “8:15 to 8:30,September 5, 2017”, a delay occurs in the operation schedule in asection X1.

Furthermore, the operational track record storage unit 124 may alsostore, in an associated manner, the date and time information thatindicates the date and time on which congestion occurred and congestioninformation that indicates the section in which the congestion occurred.

Control Unit 130

A description will be given here by referring back to FIG. 3. Thecontrol unit 130 is implemented by a central processing unit (CPU), amicro processing unit (MPU), or the like, executing various kinds ofprograms, which are stored in a storage device in the informationprocessing apparatus 100, by using a RAM as a work area. Furthermore,the control unit 130 is implemented by, for example, an integratedcircuit, such as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), afield programmable gate array (FPGA), or the like.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the control unit 130 includes a receiving unit131, an acquiring unit 132, a calculation unit 133, a deciding unit 134,a showing unit 135, an instruction unit 136 and implements or executesthe function or the operation of the information processing describedbelow. Furthermore, the internal configuration of the control unit 130is not limited to the configuration illustrated in FIG. 3 and anotherconfiguration may also be used as long as the configuration in which theinformation processing described below is performed is used.Furthermore, the connection relation between each of the processingunits included in the control unit 130 is not limited to the connectionrelation illustrated in FIG. 3 and another connection relation may alsobe used.

Receiving Unit 131

The receiving unit 131 receives various kinds of information from theterminal devices 10. For example, the receiving unit 131 receives adistribution request for content or information related to the content.

Furthermore, the receiving unit 131 accepts various kinds of designationinformation that is used to designate a moving vehicle from the terminaldevice 10. For example, the receiving unit 131 receives positioninformation related to a user. For example, the receiving unit 131receives information related to a riding reservation for an on-demandbus. As an example, the receiving unit 131 accepts, as informationrelated to the riding reservation for the on-demand bus, designation ofthe riding desired position indicating the position desired for a rideon the on-demand bus.

Furthermore, for example, the receiving unit 131 receives informationrelated to an immediate call for an on-demand bus. As an example, thereceiving unit 131 accepts, from a user, an allocation instruction of amoving vehicle to the current position (or, the position around thecurrent position) of the user.

Acquiring Unit 132

The acquiring unit 132 acquires the attribute information on a user. Forexample, the acquiring unit 132 acquires the attribute information onthe user from a cooperating external information processing apparatuses(various server devices). For example, the acquiring unit 132 acquiresthe attribute information on a user from a content server thatdistributes content (article content, advertisement content, etc.).Furthermore, the acquiring unit 132 acquires the attribute informationon a user from a shopping server that manages the transaction of aproduct. Furthermore, the acquiring unit 132 acquires the attributeinformation on a user from an application server that manages variousapplications. Furthermore, the acquiring unit 132 stores the acquiredattribute information in the user information storage unit 123.

Furthermore, the acquiring unit 132 may also acquire the positionalrelationship between the riding position information that indicates ariding point for a ride in a moving vehicle and the user positioninformation that indicates the current position of the user.Furthermore, the acquiring unit 132 may also acquire the moving vehicleposition information that indicates the current position of the movingvehicle. Furthermore, the acquiring unit 132 can also calculate, basedon the acquired information, information to be shown to the user. Forexample, the acquiring unit 132 can calculate the remaining time neededfor the on-demand bus B1 to arrive at each of the existing bus stops ST1and ST2. Furthermore, the acquiring unit 132 can calculate the remainingtime needed for the on-demand bus B1 to arrive at each of the virtualbus stops that are placed by the deciding unit 134. Furthermore, thecalculation process described above may also be performed in aprocessing unit other than the acquiring unit 132.

Calculation Unit 133

The calculation unit 133 calculates, based on the moving distance of auser to the position indicated by the position information and based onthe attribute information on the user, a moving cost that is the costneeded for the user to move the subject moving distance. The moving costis the cost needed for the user to move the associated moving distanceand can also be stated as the information that indicates the level of aphysical burden imposed on the user at the time of travelling theassociated moving distance. Furthermore, the position informationmentioned here is, for example, desired riding position information thatindicates the riding desired position designated by the user at the timeof a riding reservation or an immediate call.

For example, the calculation unit 133 calculates a moving cost bymultiplying the moving distance of the user to the position indicated bythe position information by the attribute score that indicates theattribute information on the user. Furthermore, the calculation unit 133may also calculate an attribute score.

Deciding Unit 134

The deciding unit 134 decides, based on the attribute informationacquired by the acquiring unit 132, the placement position in which thevirtual riding point that corresponds to a riding point that is used bya user to ride in a moving vehicle and that is virtually set is placed.For example, the deciding unit 134 decides the placement position basedon the position information related to the user.

Furthermore, for example, when a riding reservation for the movingvehicle made by the user is accepted, the deciding unit 134 decides theplacement position based on, as the position information, the desiredriding position information that indicates the position in which a ridein a moving vehicle is desired and that is designated at the time of theriding reservation made by the user. Furthermore, when an allocationinstruction (immediate call) of a moving vehicle to the current positionof the user made by the user is accepted, the deciding unit 134 decidesthe placement position based on, as the position information, thecurrent position information indicating the subject current position.

Furthermore, the deciding unit 134 decides the placement position basedon the moving cost calculated by the calculation unit 133. Specifically,the deciding unit 134 decides the placement position such that the sumtotal of the moving costs of the plurality of users becomes the minimum.For example, the deciding unit 134 decides, as the placement positionfrom among the positions indicated by the position information, theposition in which the sum total of the moving costs of the plurality ofusers becomes the minimum. Furthermore, the deciding unit 134 decides,based on the moving costs calculated by the calculation unit 133, theplacement positions corresponding to the number of placement positionsthat is previously determined.

Furthermore, the deciding unit 134 actually places the virtual bus stopsat the placement positions that are decided as described above.

Showing Unit 135

The showing unit 135 shows content to a user. Specifically, the showingunit 135 shows the content related to a virtual bus stop placed by thedeciding unit 134 to a user. For example, the showing unit 135 showsguide information that guides the route to the virtual bus stop placedby the deciding unit 134. As an example, the showing unit 135 shows themap information in which the route from the current position of the userto the virtual bus stop is displayed as the guide information.Furthermore, unlike the existing bus stop, because the virtual bus stopis not physically present, a user may sometimes have difficulty inrecognizing the accurate position. Thus, the showing unit 135 may alsoshow surrounding information (for example, a photograph) on thesurrounding area of the virtual bus stop.

Instruction Unit 136

The instruction unit 136 instructs the moving vehicle to move to thevirtual bus stop placed by the deciding unit 134. For example, theinstruction unit 136 decides a detour route to the virtual bus stopbased on the original running route of the moving vehicle and instructsthe moving vehicle to run the decided detour route.

3. Example of the Operation In Information Processing

In the following, the content of the process executed and implemented byeach of the processing units 131 to 136 will be described by using theflowchart illustrated in FIG. 8. FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating anexample of the information processing according to the first embodiment.Furthermore, the example illustrated in FIG. 2 is appropriately used.

First, the receiving unit 131 determines whether designation of theposition information has been accepted from the user (Step S101). Forexample, the receiving unit 131 determines, as the position information,whether the position information indicating the riding desired positiondesignated by the riding reservation, i.e., the desired riding positioninformation, has been received. Furthermore, the receiving unit 131 mayalso determine, as the position information, the position informationindicating the riding desired position designated by the immediate call,i.e., the desired riding position information, has been received.

If the receiving unit 131 has not received the desired riding positioninformation (No Step S101), the receiving unit 131 waits until thereceiving unit 131 receives the information. In contrast, if thereceiving unit 131 has received the desired riding position information(Yes at Step S101), the receiving unit 131 moves the process to theacquiring unit 132.

Here, as illustrated in FIG. 2, it is assumed that the receiving unit131 has accepted the designation of the desired position “DP11” from theuser U1. Furthermore, it is assumed that the receiving unit 131 hasreceived the information indicating that the current position of theuser U1 is the current position “HP11” from the terminal device 10 ofthe user U1. Furthermore, as illustrated in FIG. 2, it is assumed thatthe receiving unit 131 has accepted the designation of the desiredposition “DP21” from the user U2. Furthermore, it is assumed that thereceiving unit 131 has received the information indicating that thecurrent position of the user U2 is the current position “HP21” from theterminal device 10 of the user U2. Furthermore, as illustrated in FIG.2, it is assumed that the receiving unit 131 has accepted thedesignation of the desired position “DP31” from the user U3.Furthermore, it is assumed that the receiving unit 131 has received theinformation indicating that the current position of the user U3 is thecurrent position “HP31” from the terminal device 10 of the user U3.

If the desired riding position information is received by the receivingunit 131 (Yes Step S101), the acquiring unit 132 acquires the attributeinformation on the user (Step S102). If the attribute information on theusers U1 to U3 has already been stored in the user information storageunit 123, the acquiring unit 132 acquires the subject attributeinformation from the user information storage unit 123. In contrast, ifthe attribute information on the users U1 to U3 has not been stored inthe user information storage unit 123, the acquiring unit 132 may alsoacquire the attribute information from, for example, a predeterminedexternal device.

The example illustrated in FIG. 2 indicates the example in which theacquiring unit 132 has acquired the attribute information on the user U1indicating the age “33”, the gender “female”, the health condition“pregnant woman”, and the physical disability “null”. Furthermore, FIG.2 indicates the example in which the acquiring unit 132 has acquired theattribute information on, for example, the user U2 indicating the age“20”, the gender “male”, the health condition “good”, and the physicaldisability “null”. Furthermore, FIG. 2 indicates the example in whichthe acquiring unit 132 has acquired the attribute information on, forexample, the user U3 indicating the age “55”, the gender “male”, thehealth condition “good”, and the physical disability “null”.

Then, the acquiring unit 132 acquires the position information on theexisting bus stop (Step S103). In the example illustrated in FIG. 2, theacquiring unit 132 acquires the position information “S-PT1” indicatingthe position of the existing bus stop ST1 and acquires the positioninformation “S-PT2” indicating the position of the existing bus stopST2.

Then, the calculation unit 133 calculates an attribute score indicatingattribute information for each of the pieces of attribute information onthe individual users acquired by the acquiring unit 132 (Step S104). Amethod of calculating the attribute score performed by the calculationunit 133 is not limited; however, as an example, the calculation unit133 calculates a higher score as the attribute information may possiblyindicate that a heavier burden is imposed on a user at the time ofmoving. For example, the calculation unit 133 can calculate the ageinformation (“33” in the case of the user U1) as the attribute score“33” without processing anything. Furthermore, regarding the attributeinformation “female”, the calculation unit 133 can calculate theattribute score “2” that is higher than the attribute score “1” that isassociated with the attribute information “male”.

Furthermore, the calculation unit 133 can calculate a higher attributescore as the attribute information on the health condition isconceivably worse. For example, in the case where the maximum value “10”is calculated for the attribute information on the health condition thatis conceivably worse, the calculation unit 133 can calculate theattribute score “8” associated with, for example, the attributeinformation “pregnant woman”. Furthermore, regarding the attributeinformation “physical disability”, the calculation unit 133 cancalculate a higher attribute score as the physical disability is moresevere.

The example illustrated in FIG. 2 indicates a case in which thecalculation unit 133 calculates, regarding each of the pieces ofattribute information on the user U1, the attribute score “33” withrespect to the age “33”, the attribute score “2” with respect to thegender “female”, attribute score “8” with respect to the healthcondition “pregnant woman”, and the attribute score “1” with respect tothe physical disability “null”. Descriptions of the users U2 and U3 willbe omitted.

Then, the calculation unit 133 calculates a moving cost based on themoving distance of the user to each of the desired positions and basedon the attribute score (Step S105). Furthermore, in this example, it isassumed that the information processing apparatus 100 may place themaximum of “two” virtual bus stops in the area indicated in the MAP1.Thus, the deciding unit 134, which will be described later, decideswhich of the two desired positions as the placement position from amongthe three desired positions.

In the example illustrated in FIG. 2, the calculation unit 133calculates a moving cost of each of the users for each combination ofthe possible desired positions and calculates the sum total of thecalculated moving costs. As illustrated in FIG. 2, in the case wherethree desired positions, such as the desired position “DP11”, thedesired position “DP21”, and the desired position “DP31”, are presentand two out of three desired positions can be decided as the placementpositions, the calculation unit 133 calculates a moving cost of each ofthe users for each combination obtained by combining the two desiredpositions from among the three desired positions and then calculates thesum total of the calculated moving costs.

As the combination of the desired positions, three combinations, such asthe combination (DP11, DP21), the combination (DP11, DP31), and thecombination (DP21, DP31), can be conceived. In the following, adescription will be given by using the combination (DP11, DP21) as anexample. For example, in the example of the desired positions DP11 andDP21, regarding each of the users U1 to U3, there is a possibility thatthe virtual bus stop between the desired positions DP11 and DP21associated with one of the users. There are two candidates for theplacement position for each of the users U1 to U3. Thus, the calculationunit 133 can calculate 18 moving costs regarding the combination (DP11,DP21).

An example of one of the 18 moving costs is a case in which the desiredposition DP11 becomes the placement position for the user U1, thedesired position DP11 becomes the placement position for the user U2,and the desired position DP11 becomes the placement position for theuser U3. This corresponds to L1 illustrated in FIG. 2 and, in such acase, the calculation unit 133 calculates the moving cost “U1 (DP11)”needed for the user U1 to move to the desired position DP11, the movingcost “U2 (DP11)” needed for the user U2 to move to the desired positionDP11, and the moving cost “U3(DP11)” needed for the user U3 to move tothe desired position DP11 and then calculates the sum total “SM11” ofthe moving cost obtained by summing the calculated three moving costs.Here, the calculation unit 133 can calculate the moving cost “U1 (DP11)”needed for the user U1 to move to the desired position DP11 bymultiplying a moving distance K1 of the user U1 to move from the currentposition HP11 to the desired position DP11 by each of the attributescores (33, 2, 8, and 1) of the user U1. Namely, K1×33×2×8×1=U1 (DP11)holds.

Furthermore, there is a case in which the desired position DP11 becomesthe placement position for the user U1, the desired position DP11becomes the placement position for the user U2, and the desired positionDP21 becomes the placement position for the user U3. This corresponds toL2 illustrated in FIG. 2 and, in such a case, the calculation unit 133calculates the moving cost “U1 (DP11)” needed for the user U1 to move tothe desired position DP11, the moving cost “U2 (DP11)” needed for theuser U2 to move to the desired position DP11, and the moving cost “U3(DP21)” needed for the user U3 to move to the desired position DP21 andthen calculates the sum total “SM12” of the moving costs that areobtained by summing the calculated three moving costs.

Furthermore, there is a case in which the desired position DP11 becomesthe placement position for the user U1, the desired position DP31becomes the placement position for the user U2, and the desired positionDP31 becomes the placement position for the user U3. This corresponds toL3 illustrated in FIG. 2 and, in such a case, the calculation unit 133calculates the moving cost “U1 (DP11)” needed for the user U1 to move tothe desired position DP11, the moving cost “U2 (DP31)” needed for theuser U2 to move to the desired position DP21, and the moving cost “U3(DP31)” needed for the user U3 to move to the desired position DP21 andthen calculates the sum total “SM13” of the moving cost obtained bysumming the calculated three moving costs.

By using the same method, the calculation unit 133 calculates the sumtotal of the moving cost for each combination of the desired positions.Then, the deciding unit 134 decides, as the placement position, theposition in which the sum total of the moving cost calculated by thecalculation unit 133 is the minimum (Step S106). For example, in theexample illustrated in FIG. 2, it is assumed that, from among all of thecalculated sum totals, the sum total of the moving cost associated withthe L3 is the minimum. In such a case, regarding the user U1, thedeciding unit 134 decides the desired position DP11 designated by theuser U1 as the placement position. Furthermore, regarding the users U2and U3, the deciding unit 134 decides the desired position DP31designated by the user U2 as the placement position. Furthermore, bydeciding the two placement positions, i.e., the desired positions DP11and DP21, the deciding unit 134 actually places the virtual bus stops atthese placement positions.

Then, the showing unit 135 shows the guide information related to thevirtual bus stops placed by the deciding unit 134 to the users (StepS107). Furthermore, in the example illustrated in FIG. 2, theinstruction unit 136 instructs the on-demand bus B1 to run the detourroute RT20 that passes through the desired positions DP11 and DP21 ineach of which the virtual bus stop has been placed (Step S108).

4. Modification

The information processing apparatus 100 according to the firstembodiment described above may also be performed with various kinds ofembodiments other than the embodiment described above. Therefore,another embodiment of the information processing apparatus 100 describedabove will be described below.

4-1. Position Decision Considering Waiting Time

The deciding unit 134 decides, if a virtual riding point is placed, theplacement position in which the virtual riding point is placed isdecided based on the predicted waiting time of the user at the placementposition in which the subject virtual riding point is to be placed. Forexample, in the example illustrated in FIG. 2, it is assumed that theweather at the time when designation of the desired points of the usersU1 to U3 was accepted is a bad weather condition (for example, rain,snow, strong wind, high temperature, or low temperature). In such aweather condition, the calculation unit 133 estimates and calculates thewaiting time in the case where the virtual bus stop is placed at each ofthe desired positions DP11, DP21, and DP31.

For example, based on the current position of the on-demand bus B1, theoperation speed of the on-demand bus B1, based on the distance from thecurrent position of the on-demand bus B1 to each of the desiredpositions DP11, DP21, and DP31, and based on the distance from thecurrent position of each of the users to the individual desiredpositions DP11, DP21, and DP31, the calculation unit 133 estimates andcalculates the waiting time in the case where a virtual bus stop isplaced at each of the desired positions DP11, DP21, and DP31.

In this state, the deciding unit 134 decides the position in which thewaiting time is the minimum from among the desired positions DP11, DP21,and DP31 as the placement position. For example, the deciding unit 134decides the position in which the waiting time is the minimum from amongthe desired positions DP11, DP21, and DP31 as the placement position.

Consequently, the information processing apparatus 100 according to thefirst embodiment can further shorten the waiting time at the virtual busstop in bad weather. Furthermore, the information processing apparatus100 can fairly shorten the waiting time regarding each of the users whodesignate individual desired positions. In other words, the informationprocessing apparatus 100 can prevent the occurrence of unfairness, suchas the waiting time of one user being extremely shorter and the waitingtime of another user being extremely longer.

4-2. Position Decision Considering Destination

Furthermore, when designation of the destination made by a user isaccepted, the deciding unit 134 decides the placement position based onthe destination designated by the user. In such a case, the decidingunit 134 decides, from among the moving vehicles, the placement positionin which the virtual riding point that corresponds to a riding pointthat is used to ride in the moving vehicle associated with thedestination and that is virtually set is placed. This point will bedescribed by using the example illustrated in FIG. 2. Here, to simplifythe explanation, it is assumed that the user U1 has designated thedesired position DP11 and also designated the destination “A station”.Furthermore, it is assumed that the user U2 has designated the desiredposition DP21 and the destination “A station”.

In such a case, the acquiring unit 132 refers to the operation schedulestorage unit 122 and selects the on-demand bus B1 whose basic routepasses along the destination “A station” or is the vicinity of thedestination “A station” (for example, passes along within apredetermined distance from the A station). Furthermore, the acquiringunit 132 calculates whether the basic route of the selected on-demandbus B1 is within the predetermined distance from the desired positionsDP11 and DP21. If the basic route is within the predetermined distance,the calculation unit 133 calculates the sum total of the moving cost inthe flow of the process described in FIG. 8. Then, the deciding unit 134decides the placement position based on the calculated sum total.Furthermore, the instruction unit 136 instructs the on-demand bus B1 tostop at the destination “A station” after getting the users U1 and U2 onthe on-demand bus B1.

Furthermore, if the basic route of the on-demand bus B1 is not withinthe predetermined distance from the desired positions DP11 and DP21, theshowing unit 135 can show each of the users that the target on-demandbus is not present.

Consequently, the information processing apparatus 100 according to thefirst embodiment can place a virtual bus stop in accordance with thedesignation made by the user and transports the users to theirdestinations. Consequently, the information processing apparatus 100 canenhance the convenience of users who use moving vehicles.

Furthermore, if the on-demand bus that heads toward the destinationdesignated by the user is not present, the information processingapparatus 100 searches whether another transportation method (forexample, a railway) heading toward the subject destination is present.Furthermore, if another transportation method (for example, a railway)heading toward the subject destination is present and if the basic routeof the on-demand bus heading toward one of the subject railway stationsis within the predetermined distance, the information processingapparatus 100 may place a virtual bus stop regarding the subjecton-demand bus.

4-3. Position Decision Considering Time

Furthermore, if the designation of the expected departure time of a useror the desired arrival time to the destination made by the user isaccepted, the deciding unit 134 decides a placement position based onthe expected departure time or the desired arrival time designated bythe user. For example, the deciding unit 134 decides, as the placementposition, a predetermined position (for example, a desired positiondesired by the user) from among the positions in which the movingvehicle can arrive within the predetermined time from the expecteddeparture time of the user. Alternatively, the deciding unit 134 decidesthe placement position such that the user arrives at the destination intime for the desired arrival time. This point will described by usingthe example illustrated in FIG. 9. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating anexample of the information processing according to a modification of thefirst embodiment. Furthermore, the MAP1 illustrated in FIG. 9 is thesame as that illustrated in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2.

First, it is assumed that the user U1 has designated the desired arrivaltime “10:00” at a destination “T university”. Furthermore, it is assumedthat the receiving unit 131 has accepted the setting of this informationat “9:00” (setting accepted time: 9:00). In such a case, the decidingunit 134 decides the placement position related to the bus that canarrive at the destination “T university” at time “10:00” (Step S11). Inthis case, to simplify the explanation, similarly to the exampledescribed above, it is assumed that, regarding the on-demand bus B1, thedeciding unit 134 has decided the desired position DP11 as the placementposition.

In this state, the deciding unit 134 determines whether, if theon-demand bus B1 passes along the detour route RT20 that passes alongthe placement position DP11, the predicted arrival time at thedestination “T university” is not after “10:00” (Step S12). Here, if thedeciding unit 134 determines that the predicted arrival time is after“10:00”, the deciding unit 134 again decides a placement position basedon the subsequent operation schedule of the on-demand bus B1.

Then, the showing unit 135 calculates, from the current position HP11 ofthe user U1, needed time T11 that is needed by the user U1 to move tothe desired position DP11 that has been set to the placement position(Step S13). Furthermore, the showing unit 135 calculates needed time T12that is needed by the on-demand bus B1 to move from the current positionof the on-demand bus B1 to the desired position DP11 (Step S14).

Then, based on the needed time T11 and the needed time T12, the showingunit 135 calculates the moving start time such that the waiting time atthe desired position DP11 becomes further short (Step S15). Then, theshowing unit 135 shows the user U1 the calculated moving start time(Step S16). Furthermore, the calculation process performed at Steps S13to S15 may also be performed by the calculation unit 133.

Then, it is assumed that the user U3 has designated the desired arrivaltime “9:45” at a destination “B station”. Furthermore, it is assumedthat the receiving unit 131 has accepted the setting of this informationat “9:25” (setting accepted time: 9:25). In such a case, the decidingunit 134 determines whether the destination “B station” is present onthe operation route of the on-demand bus B1 that runs, as a detour, thedetour route T20 for the user U1 (Step S21). If the deciding unit 134determines that the destination “B station” is present, the decidingunit 134 determines whether the predicted arrival time at thedestination “T university” desired by the user U1 is after “10:00”,assuming that the on-demand bus B1 has passed along the detour routeRT20 and the detour route RT21 that is toward, as a detour, the desiredposition DP21 desired by the user U2 (Step S22). If the deciding unit134 determines that the predicted arrival time is not after “10:00”, thedeciding unit 134 also decides the desired position DP31 as theplacement position (Step S23).

Then, the showing unit 135 calculates needed time T31 that is needed forthe user U3 from the current position HP31 of the user U3 to the desiredposition DP31 that has been set to the placement position (Step S24).Furthermore, the showing unit 135 calculates needed time T32 that isneeded for the on-demand bus B1 to move from the current position of theon-demand bus B1 to the desired position DP31 (Step S25).

Then, the showing unit 135 calculates the moving start time based on theneeded time T31 and the needed time T32 such that the waiting time atthe desired position DP31 is further short (Step S26). Then, the showingunit 135 shows the user U3 the calculated moving start time (Step S27).Furthermore, the calculation process performed at Steps S24 to S26 mayalso be performed in the calculation unit 133.

In this way, the information processing apparatus 100 according to thefirst embodiment decides a placement position based on the expecteddeparture time or the desired arrival time in the case where designationof the expected departure time or the desired arrival time to thedestination is accepted. Furthermore, the information processingapparatus 100 shows the moving start time to the user such that thewaiting time at the virtual bus stop is further shorter. Consequently,the information processing apparatus 100 can place a virtual bus stopfurther considering the desire of the users, thereby enhancing theconvenience of users who use moving vehicles.

4-4. Exhibit Information Considering Congestion Situation

When the information processing apparatus 100 decides a placementposition based on the expected departure time or the desired arrivaltime accepted from a user, in some cases, for example, the informationprocessing apparatus 100 allows the user to ride on the on-demand bus inthe time zone in which the user is not able to be seated due to thecommuting rush hour or the like. In such a case, for some users, aphysical burden becomes increased because the users are not able to beseated. Thus, in accordance with the attribute information on a user(for example, broken a bone), the information processing apparatus 100guides the user to ride on the on-demand bus in the time zone in whichcongestion can be avoided.

Consequently, the information processing apparatus 100 can enhance theconvenience of users who use moving vehicles.

5. Effects

The information processing apparatus 100 according to the firstembodiment includes the acquiring unit 132 and the deciding unit 134.The acquiring unit 132 acquires attribute information on a user. Thedeciding unit 134 decides, based on the attribute information acquiredby the acquiring unit 132, a placement position in which a virtualriding point that corresponds to a riding point that is used for theuser to ride in a moving vehicle and that is virtually set is placed.

Consequently, the information processing apparatus 100 according to thefirst embodiment can place the virtual bus stop at a more fair positionin terms of the plurality of users. Furthermore, the informationprocessing apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment can enhancethe convenience of the users who use the moving vehicles.

Furthermore, the deciding unit 134 decides the placement position basedon the position information related to the user.

Consequently, the information processing apparatus 100 according to thefirst embodiment can decide the placement position based on, forexample, the position information indicating the position designated bythe user, thereby enhancing the convenience of the user.

Furthermore, if a riding reservation for the moving vehicle made by theuser is accepted, the deciding unit 134 decides the placement positionbased on, as the position information, desired riding positioninformation that indicates a position desired by the user to ride in themoving vehicle and that was designated by the user at the time of theriding reservation.

Consequently, the information processing apparatus 100 according to thefirst embodiment can respond to the riding reservation, therebyenhancing the convenience of the user.

Furthermore, if an allocation instruction of the moving vehicle to acurrent position of the user given by the user is accepted, the decidingunit 134 decides the placement position based on, as the positioninformation, current position information indicating the currentposition.

Consequently, the information processing apparatus 100 according to thefirst embodiment can respond to an immediate call, thereby enhancing theconvenience of the user.

Furthermore, the information processing apparatus 100 according to thefirst embodiment includes the calculation unit 133. The calculation unit133 calculates, based on a moving distance of the user to the positionindicated by the position information and based on the attributeinformation, a moving cost that is a cost needed for the user to movethe moving distance. Furthermore, the deciding unit 134 decides theplacement position based on the moving cost calculated by thecalculation unit 133.

Consequently, the information processing apparatus 100 according to thefirst embodiment can more fairly decide the placement position withrespect to each of the users and decide, as the placement position, theposition in which a higher priority is given to a user who has a heavyphysical burden at the time of moving.

Furthermore, the deciding unit 134 decides the placement position suchthat a sum total of the moving cost of each of a plurality of the usersis the minimum.

Consequently, the information processing apparatus 100 according to thefirst embodiment can more fairly decide the placement position withrespect to each of the users and decide, as the placement position, theposition in which a higher priority is given to a user who has a heavyphysical burden at the time of moving.

Furthermore, the deciding unit 134 decides, as the placement positionfrom among the positions indicated by the position information, aposition in which the sum total of the moving cost of each of theplurality of the users is the minimum.

Consequently, the information processing apparatus 100 according to thefirst embodiment can more fairly decide the placement position withrespect to each of the users and decide, as the placement position, theposition in which a higher priority is given to a user who has a heavyphysical burden at the time of moving is given.

Furthermore, the deciding unit 134 decides, based on the moving cost,the predetermined number of the placement positions.

Consequently, the information processing apparatus 100 according to thefirst embodiment can more fairly decide the placement position eventhough that number of virtual bus stops to be placed is limited.

Furthermore, when a virtual riding point is placed, the deciding unit134 decides, based on waiting time of the user estimated at theplacement position in which the virtual riding point was placed, aplacement position in which the virtual riding point is to be placed.

Consequently, the information processing apparatus 100 according to thefirst embodiment can further shorten the waiting time at the virtual busstop in, for example, bad weather, thereby enhancing the convenience ofthe user.

Furthermore, when a destination designated by the user is accepted, thedeciding unit 134 decides the placement position based on thedestination designated by the user.

Consequently, the information processing apparatus 100 according to thefirst embodiment can place the virtual bus stop in accordance with theinstruction from the user and transport the user to the destination.

Furthermore, the deciding unit 134 decides, regarding the movingvehicle, the placement position in which the virtual riding point thatcorresponds to the riding point that is used to ride in the movingvehicle associated with the destination and that is virtually set isplaced.

Consequently, the information processing apparatus 100 according to thefirst embodiment can place the virtual bus stop in accordance with theinstruction received from the user and can transport the user to thedestination.

Furthermore, when expected departure time of the user or desired arrivaltime to the destination designated by the user is accepted, the decidingunit 134 decides the placement position based on the expected departuretime or the desired arrival time designated by the user.

Consequently, the information processing apparatus 100 according to thefirst embodiment can place the virtual bus stop by considering thedesire of the user, thereby enhancing the convenience of the user.

Furthermore, the deciding unit 134 decides, as the placement position, apredetermined position from among the positions in which the movingvehicle can arrive within predetermined time after the expecteddeparture time of the user.

Consequently, the information processing apparatus 100 according to thefirst embodiment can enhance the convenience of the user.

Furthermore, as the attribute information on the user, the acquiringunit 132 acquires age information on the user, gender information,information related to a health condition, information related to aphysical disability, and information whether or not to accompany aninfant.

Consequently, the information processing apparatus 100 according to thefirst embodiment can decide the placement position that effectivelyreflects the attribute information on the user.

Furthermore, the information processing apparatus 100 according to thefirst embodiment includes the showing unit 135. The showing unit 135shows the user the information related to the placement position decidedby the deciding unit 134.

Consequently, the information processing apparatus 100 according to thefirst embodiment can guide the user to, for example, the placementposition, thereby enhancing the convenience of the user.

Second Embodiment

1. Example of Information Processing

In the following, an example of the information processing according toa second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 1. Aninformation processing system according to the second embodimentincludes an information processing apparatus 200 and the terminal device10. Although not illustrated, in the example illustrated in FIG. 2, eachof the users (the users U1, U2, and U3) has the terminal device 10. Theinformation processing apparatus 200 according to the second embodimentis an example of the information processing apparatus SV described withreference to FIG. 1. For example, the information processing apparatus200 is an information processing apparatus that is implemented by asingle or a plurality of devices, such as a server device or a cloudsystem, that can communicate with the terminal devices 10 used by theusers via a network, such as a mobile communication network or awireless local area network (LAN).

As described with reference to FIG. 1, in order to avoid a worsesituation of the operational efficiency, the second informationprocessing apparatus 200 specifies the placement available position thatis the position in which a virtual bus stop can be placed and decidesthe placement position based on the specified placement availableposition.

2. Configuration of the Information Processing Apparatus

In the following, the information processing apparatus 200 according tothe second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 10. FIG.10 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the informationprocessing apparatus 200 according to the second embodiment. Asillustrated in FIG. 10, the information processing apparatus 200includes the communication unit 110, the storage unit 120, and a controlunit 230.

The information processing apparatus 200 according to the secondembodiment further includes a specifying unit 237 in addition to theunits included in the information processing apparatus 100 described inthe first embodiment. Thus, descriptions of the storage unit and each ofthe units described with reference to FIG. 3 will be omitted.

Control Unit 230

The control unit 230 is implemented by a CPU, an MPU, or the like,executing various kinds of programs, which are stored in a storagedevice in the information processing apparatus 200, by using a RAM as awork area. Furthermore, the control unit 230 is implemented by, forexample, an integrated circuit, such as an ASIC or an FPGA.

As illustrated in FIG. 10, the control unit 230 includes the receivingunit 131, the acquiring unit 132, the calculation unit 133, the decidingunit 134, the showing unit 135, the instruction unit 136, and thespecifying unit 237 and implements or executes the function or theoperation of the information processing described below. Furthermore,the internal configuration of the control unit 230 is not limited to theconfiguration illustrated in FIG. 10 and another configuration may alsobe used as long as the configuration in which the information processingdescribed below is performed is used. Furthermore, the connectionrelation between each of the processing units included in the controlunit 230 is not limited to the connection relation illustrated in FIG.10 and another connection relation may also be used.

Specifying Unit 237

The specifying unit 237 specifies a placement available position that isa position in which a virtual riding point that corresponds to a ridingpoint that is used to ride in a moving vehicle and that is virtually setcan be placed. For example, the specifying unit 237 specifies aplacement available position based on the operation information that isthe information related to the operation situation of the movingvehicle.

Furthermore, the specifying unit 237 specifies, as the placementavailable position, the point other than a predetermined point based onthe riding point that is used to ride in a moving vehicle. For example,as the predetermined point, the specifying unit 237 specifies, as theplacement available position, the point on the road excluding the roadthat is included in a predetermined distance from the riding point thatis used to ride in the moving vehicle. For example, as the predeterminedpoint, the specifying unit 237 specifies, as the placement availableposition, the point included in the area other than a predetermined areacentered at the riding point that is used to ride in the moving vehicle.

Furthermore, the deciding unit 134 decides, based on the placementavailable position specified by the specifying unit 237, the placementposition in which the virtual riding point is to be placed.

3. Example of the Operation in Information Processing

In the following, the content of the process executed and implemented bythe specifying unit 237 will be described by using the flowchartillustrated in FIG. 11. FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating an exampleof the information processing according to the second embodiment.Furthermore, the example illustrated in FIG. 1 is appropriately used.

First, the specifying unit 237 acquires information indicating the areain which the virtual riding position (for example, virtual bus stop) isnot able to be placed (Step S201). For example, it is assumed that, asthe information indicating the area in which the virtual riding position(for example, virtual bus stop) is not able to be placed, theinformation processing apparatus 200 previously stores, in apredetermined storage unit, the information indicating the size of thearea with the radius centered at the position (bus stop position), inwhich the bus stop (either of the existing bus stop and virtual busstop) is present, that is to be set to the area in which the virtual busstop is not able to be placed. Here, it is assumed that the specifyingunit 237 has acquired the information indicating that the circular areawith the radius R centered at the bus stop position is set to the areain which the virtual bus stop is not able to be placed.

The specifying unit 237 specifies the placement available position basedon the acquired information (Step S202). For example, in the exampleillustrated in FIG. 1, the specifying unit 237 specifies, as theplacement available position, the area other than the circular area withthe radius R centered at the position “S-PT1” in which the existing busstop ST1 is present and the circular area with the radius R centered atthe position “S-PT2” in which the existing bus stop ST2 is present.

Furthermore, in the example illustrated in FIG. 1, the specifying unit237 may also specify, as the placement available position, the point onthe road except for the road that is included within the predetermineddistance from the position “S-PT1” in which the existing bus stop ST1 ispresent and the position “S-PT2” in which the existing bus stop ST2 ispresent.

Then, based on the placement available position specified by thespecifying unit 237, the deciding unit 134 decides the placementposition in which the virtual riding point is to be placed (Step S203).The process of deciding the placement position is the same as thatdescribed in the first embodiment; however, in the second embodiment,the deciding unit 134 decides the placement position targeted for theplacement available position that has been specified by the specifyingunit 237.

For example, if the deciding unit 134 once decides the desired positionDP11 as the placement position, in the case where the desired positionDP11 is located at the position other than the placement availableposition, the deciding unit 134 decides, as the placement position, theposition that is further closer from the desired position DP11 and thatis included in the placement available position.

4. Modification

The information processing apparatus 200 according to the secondembodiment described above may also be performed with various kinds ofembodiments other than the embodiment described above. Therefore,another embodiment of the information processing apparatus 200 describedabove will be described below.

4-1. Dynamic Change

The specifying unit 237 specifies the placement available position basedon the operation information that is the information related to theoperation situation of a moving vehicle. For example, the specifyingunit 237 dynamically changes the placement available position based onthe operation situation.

As described above, it is assumed that the circular area with the radiusR centered at the bus stop position is determined to be the area inwhich the virtual bus stop is not able to be placed. In this state, thespecifying unit 237 acquires the operation situation of, for example,the currently operating on-demand bus. Then, if a delay occurs in theoperation schedule of the on-demand bus based on the acquired operationsituation, the specifying unit 237 sets the length of the radius Rlonger than a predetermined value that is previously set. Namely, thespecifying unit 237 increases the region of the circular area anddecides the area other than the increased circular area as the placementavailable position.

In this way, if a delay occurs in the operation schedule of theon-demand bus, the specifying unit 237 changes the placement availableposition smaller by increasing the area in which placement isunavailable. By decreasing the placement available area, the virtual busstop can only be placed at further limited positions, the informationprocessing apparatus 200 can prevent the occurrence of delay in theoperation schedule due to an increase the number of virtual bus stops.

4-2. Specifying a Placement Available Position Made by RidingReservation

Furthermore, if a riding reservation for a moving vehicle made by a useris accepted, the specifying unit 237 specifies the placement availableposition as the operation information based on the operation history upto this point. For example, it is assumed that a riding reservation fromthe desired position DP11 at “10:00” on the following day made by theuser U1 is accepted. In such a case, at the current moment, what kind ofchange in the operation situation occurs around the desired positionDP11 is unknown.

Thus, the information processing apparatus 200 estimates, based on theoperation history up to this point, the operation situation around thedesired position DP11 at “10:00” on the following day. It is assumedthat the information processing apparatus 200 estimates, based on theoperation history up to this point, that there is a possibility thatcongestion occurs around the desired position DP11. If a virtual busstop has been placed in spite of the occurrence of congestion, thiscauses a delay in the operation schedule. Thus, by changing theplacement available position by increasing the circular area (placementunavailable area) of the existing bus stop ST1, the specifying unit 237performs control such that the desired position DP11 (and around thearea) is not decided as the placement position.

Consequently, the information processing apparatus 200 according to thesecond embodiment can specify the placement available position that hasbeen set by considering the operation situation even if the ridingreservation has been made.

4-3. Specifying a Placement Available Position Due to an Immediate Call

Furthermore, if an allocation instruction (immediate call) of a movingvehicle to the current position of a user sent from the user isaccepted, the specifying unit 237 specifies, as the operationinformation, the placement available position based on the currentoperation situation. For example, it is assumed that an immediate call,made by the user U1, for a vehicle to be allocated around the desiredposition DP11 after “15 minutes” from now is accepted.

For example, at present, it is assumed that congestion occurs around thedesired position DP11. If a virtual bus stop has been placed in spite ofthe occurrence of congestion, this causes a delay in operation schedule.Thus, by changing the placement available position by increasing thecircular area (placement unavailable area) of the existing bus stop ST1,the specifying unit 237 performs control such that the desired positionDP11 (and around the area) is not decided as the placement position.

Consequently, the information processing apparatus 200 according to thesecond embodiment can specify the placement available position that hasbeen set by considering the operation situation even if the immediatecall has been made.

4-4. Process Performed by Considering the User Attribute

Furthermore, the specifying unit 237 specifies the placement availableposition based on the attribute information on the user. For example, asdescribed in the first embodiment, the user U1 has the health condition“pregnant woman” as the attribute information indicating a heavyphysical burden. Here, it is assumed that the desired position DP11designated by the user U1 is included in the placement unavailable area.In such a case, the deciding unit 134, as an exception, the desiredposition DP11 that is included in the placement unavailable area as theplacement position.

Consequently, the information processing apparatus 200 according to thesecond embodiment can decide, based on the attribute information, theplacement position such that no burden is imposed on the user.

5. Effects

The information processing apparatus 200 according to the secondembodiment includes the specifying unit 237 and the deciding unit 134.The specifying unit 237 specifies the placement available position thatis the position in which a virtual riding point corresponding to ariding point that is used to ride in a moving vehicle and that isvirtually set can be placed. The deciding unit 134 decides, based on theplacement available position specified by the specifying unit 237, theplacement position in which the virtual riding point is to be placed.

Consequently, the information processing apparatus 200 according to thesecond embodiment can effectively suppress a decrease in the operationalefficiency of a moving vehicle and an increase in the cost needed tooperate the moving vehicle.

Furthermore, the specifying unit 237 specifies the placement availableposition based on the operation information that is the informationrelated to the operation situation of the moving vehicle.

Consequently, the information processing apparatus 200 according to thesecond embodiment can specify the placement available position with highaccuracy.

Furthermore, the specifying unit 237 specifies, as the placementavailable position, the point other than the predetermined point that isbased on the riding point used to ride in the moving vehicle.

Consequently, the information processing apparatus 200 according to thesecond embodiment can prevent the virtual riding point from being placedat the position that is, for example, too close to a certain ridingpoint, thereby suppressing a decrease in the operational efficiency of amoving vehicle and an increase in the cost needed to operate the movingvehicle.

Furthermore, as the predetermined point, the specifying unit 237specifies, as the placement available position, the point on the roadother than the road that is included in the predetermined distance fromthe riding point that is used to ride in the moving vehicle.

Consequently, the information processing apparatus 200 according to thesecond embodiment can prevent the virtual riding point from being placedat the position that is, for example, too close to a certain ridingpoint, thereby suppressing a decrease in the operational efficiency of amoving vehicle and an increase in the cost needed to operate the movingvehicle.

Furthermore, as the predetermined point, the specifying unit 237specifies, as the placement available position, the point included inthe area other than the predetermined area centered at the riding pointthat is used to ride in the moving vehicle.

Consequently, the information processing apparatus 200 according to thesecond embodiment can prevent the virtual riding point from being placedat the position that is, for example, too close to a certain ridingpoint, thereby suppressing a decrease in the operational efficiency of amoving vehicle and an increase in the cost needed to operate the movingvehicle.

Furthermore, the specifying unit 237 dynamically changes the placementavailable position based on the operation situation.

Consequently, the information processing apparatus 200 according to thesecond embodiment can only place the virtual bus stop at further limitedpositions, thereby preventing the occurrence of delay in the operationschedule due to an increase in the number of virtual bus stops.

Furthermore, if a riding reservation for a moving vehicle made by a useris accepted, the specifying unit 237 specifies, as the operationinformation, the placement available position based on the operationhistory up to this point.

Consequently, the information processing apparatus 200 according to thesecond embodiment can specify the placement available position that hasbeen set by considering the operation situation even if the ridingreservation has been made.

Furthermore, if an allocation instruction of a moving vehicle to thecurrent position of the user sent from the user is accepted, thespecifying unit 237 specifies, as the operation information, theplacement available position based on the current operation situation.

Consequently, the information processing apparatus 200 according to thesecond embodiment can specify the placement available position that hasbeen set by considering the operation situation even if an immediatecall has been made.

Third Embodiment

1. Example of Information Processing

In the following, an example of the information processing according tothe third embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 1. Aninformation processing system according to the third embodiment includesan information processing apparatus 300 and the terminal device 10.Although not illustrated, in the example illustrated in FIG. 1, each ofthe users (the user U1, U2, and U3) has the terminal device 10. Theinformation processing apparatus 300 according to the third embodimentis an example of the information processing apparatus SV described withreference to FIG. 1. For example, the information processing apparatus300 is an information processing apparatus that is implemented by asingle or a plurality of devices, such as a server device or a cloudsystem, that can communicate with the terminal devices 10 used by theusers via a network, such as a mobile communication network or awireless local area network (LAN).

As described with reference to FIG. 1, the route bus operation companydesires, for example, on-demand buses are constantly used in any timezones. Because of this, the information processing apparatus 300provides various incentives to users in order to allow each of the usersto increase the willingness to use the on-demand bus.

2. Configuration of an Information Processing Apparatus

In the following, the information processing apparatus 300 according tothe third embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 12. FIG.12 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the informationprocessing apparatus 300 according to the third embodiment. Asillustrated in FIG. 12, the information processing apparatus 200includes the communication unit 110, the storage unit 120, and a controlunit 330.

The information processing apparatus 300 according to the thirdembodiment further includes an acquiring unit 337, a determination unit338, and a providing unit 339 in addition to the units included in theinformation processing apparatus 100 described in the first embodiment.Thus, descriptions of the storage unit and each of the units describedwith reference to FIG. 3 will be omitted. Furthermore, the informationprocessing apparatus 300 may also include the specifying unit 237according to the second embodiment.

Control Unit 330

The control unit 330 is implemented by a CPU, an MPU, or the like,executing various kinds of programs, which are stored in a storagedevice in the information processing apparatus 300, by using a RAM as awork area. Furthermore, the control unit 330 is implemented by, forexample, an integrated circuit, such as an ASIC or an FPGA.

As illustrated in FIG. 12, the control unit 330 includes the receivingunit 131, the acquiring unit 132, the calculation unit 133, the decidingunit 134, the showing unit 135, the instruction unit 136, the acquiringunit 337, the determination unit 338, and the providing unit 339 andimplements or executes the function or the operation of the informationprocessing described below. Furthermore, the internal configuration ofthe control unit 330 is not limited to the configuration illustrated inFIG. 12 and another configuration may also be used as long as theconfiguration in which the information processing described below isperformed is used. Furthermore, the connection relation between each ofthe processing units included in the control unit 330 is not limited tothe connection relation illustrated in FIG. 12 and another connectionrelation may also be used.

Acquiring Unit 337

The acquiring unit 337 acquires a usage situation of a user who has useda moving vehicle. For example, the acquiring unit 337 acquires, viavarious sensors installed in an on-demand bus that is the movingvehicle, a usage situation of a user who has used a moving vehicle.

Determination Unit 338

The determination unit 338 determines, based on the usage situationacquired by the acquiring unit 337, whether a user has used a movingvehicle in a predetermined time zone or at a predetermined location.

Providing Unit 339

The providing unit 339 provides a predetermined incentive to a user inaccordance with the usage situation acquired by the acquiring unit 337.Because the determination unit 338 determines, based on the usagesituation acquired by the acquiring unit 337, whether a user has used amoving vehicle in the predetermined time zone or at the predeterminedlocation, the providing unit 339 provides a predetermined incentive tothe user in accordance with the determination result obtained by thedetermination unit 338.

Furthermore, if it is determined, by the determination unit 338, thatthe user has used the moving vehicle in the predetermined time zone, theproviding unit 339 provides, as a predetermined incentive, an incentivethat is in accordance with the usage amount that corresponds to thenumber of users who uses a moving vehicle in the predetermined timezone. For example, the providing unit 339 sets, as an incentive inaccordance with the usage amount, a usage fee to be paid for a movingvehicle used by a user to the value lower than the set usage fee.

3. Example of the Operation in Information Processing

In the following, the content of the process executed and implemented bythe acquiring unit 337, the determination unit 338, and the providingunit 339 will be described by using the flowchart illustrated in FIG.13. FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the informationprocessing according to the third embodiment. Furthermore, the exampleillustrated in FIG. 1 is appropriately used.

First, the acquiring unit 337 acquires a usage situation of the user whohas used a moving vehicle (Step S301). Here, as indicated by (b)illustrated in FIG. 1, it is assumed that a placement position isdecided based on the information designated by the users U1 to U3 or theattribute information and it is assumed that the on-demand bus B1 hasbeen used because a user rides on the on-demand bus B1 from the decidedplacement position. The acquiring unit 337 can acquire the usagesituation of the on-demand bus B1 via, for example, various sensors inthe on-demand bus B1. For example, the acquiring unit 337 can acquirethe usage situation indicating when, from where, and which on-demand busrunning toward the target destination (destination) as the basic routethe user has used the on-demand bus.

In the example of (b) in FIG. 1, the acquiring unit 337 acquires, as theusage situation, information indicating that the user U1 used theon-demand bus B1 operated between “14:00 and 15:00”. Furthermore, in theexample of (b) in FIG. 1, the acquiring unit 337 acquires, as the usagesituation, information indicating that the user U2 used the on-demandbus B1 operated between “8:00 and 9:00”. Furthermore, in the example of(b) in FIG. 1, the acquiring unit 337 acquires, as the usage situation,information indicating that the user U3 used the on-demand bus B1operated between “10:00 and 11:00”.

Then, based on the usage situation acquired by the acquiring unit 337the determination unit 338 determines whether the user has used themoving vehicle in a predetermined time zone (Step S302). Thepredetermined time mentioned here is, for example, the previously knowntime zone in which the on-demand bus is crowded due to the commutingrush hour (for example, between 8:00 and 9:00 and between 9:00 and10:00). Another example of the predetermined time is the previouslyknown time zone in which the on-demand bus is deserted because very fewusers are on the on-demand bus (for example, between 10:00 and 11:00 andbetween 14:00 and 15:00).

If a user does not use a moving vehicle in the predetermined time zone(No at Step S302), the determination unit 338 returns to Step S301. Incontrast, if the determination unit 338 determines that the user usedthe moving vehicle in the predetermined time zone (Yes at Step S302),the determination unit 338 moves the process to the providing unit 339.

If it is determines that the user used the moving vehicle in thepredetermined time zone (Yes at Step S302), the providing unit 339provides the incentive in accordance with the usage amount thatcorresponds to the number of users who use the moving vehicle in thesubject predetermined time zone (Step S303). For example, as theincentive in accordance with the usage amount, the providing unit 339sets the usage fee to be paid for the moving vehicle used by the user tothe value lower than the set usage fee.

Here, if it is known that the usage amount of the on-demand bus B1 usedbetween “14:00 and 15:00” is lower than the average daily usage amountof the on-demand bus B1 per day, the providing unit 339 provides anincentive to the user U1 in response to the fact that the user U1 usedthe on-demand bus B1 between “14:00 and 15:00” in which the usage amountis low. For example, the providing unit 339 sets the fare (250 yen) thatis lower than the fare (to be set to 300 yen) that is originally to bepaid by the user U1.

Furthermore, if it is known that the usage amount of the on-demand busB1 used between “10:00 and 11:00” is lower than the average daily usageamount of the on-demand bus B1 per day, the providing unit 339 providesan incentive to the user U3 in response to the fact that user U3 usedthe on-demand bus B1 between “10:00 and 11:00” for which the usageamount is low. For example, the providing unit 339 sets the fare (280yen) that is lower than the fare (to be set to 300 yen) that isoriginally to be paid by the user U3.

In contrast, the providing unit 339 does not provide an incentive to theuser U2 who used the on-demand bus B1 at the time between “8:00 and9:00” for which the usage amount of the on-demand bus B1 is greater thanthe average daily usage amount of the on-demand bus B1 due to thecommuting rush hour.

4. Modification

The information processing apparatus 300 according to the thirdembodiment described above may also be performed with various kinds ofembodiments other than the embodiment described above. Therefore,another embodiment of the information processing apparatus 300 describedabove will be described below.

4-1. Incentive (1)

The providing unit 339 sets, as the incentive in accordance with theusage amount, the usage fee paid for a moving vehicle used by a user toa value of a fixed amount that is not changed in accordance with themoving distance of the user moved by using the moving vehicle. Forexample, it is assumed that the on-demand bus B1 illustrated in FIG. 1is a distance-based fee system in which the fare is increased inaccordance with the moving distance.

In such a case, the providing unit 339 does not increase the fare of theuser U1 based on the moving distance in response to the fact that theuser U1 used the on-demand bus B1 between “14:00 and 15:00” in which theusage amount is low and then sets the fare to the predetermined fare.For example, in the case of the moving distance of the user U1, theproviding unit 339 sets the fare to “300 yen” that is the base fare ofthe user U1, although the fare to be paid is “400 yen”.

Consequently, the information processing apparatus 300 according to thethird embodiment can make users aware that the fare is attractive oncondition that a moving vehicle is used in the predetermined time zone,thereby allowing the users to effectively use the moving vehicle in thesubject time zone. As the result, the information processing apparatus300 according to the third embodiment can equalize the usage situationof the moving vehicles to be used.

Furthermore, the providing unit 339 may also provide an incentive of,for example, using a usual distance-based fee system in the congestiontime zone due to the commuting rush hour or the like and keeping, in therest of the time zone other than the congestion time zone due to thecommuting rush hour, the fare to the predetermined fare.

4-2. Incentive (2)

Furthermore, if it is determined, by the determination unit 338, that auser used a moving vehicle in the predetermined time zone, the providingunit 339 provides, as a predetermined incentive, a point that is inaccordance with the usage amount that corresponds to the number of userswho uses the moving vehicle in the predetermined time zone.

In the example described above, a case in which the providing unit 339provides the incentive of decreasing the fare in accordance with theusage amount has been described. However, the providing unit 339 mayalso provide the point that is in accordance with the usage amount. Forexample, the providing unit 339 provides an electronic pointcorresponding to a predetermined amount in response to the fact that theuser U1 used the on-demand bus B1 between “14:00 and 15:00” in which theusage amount is low.

Consequently, the information processing apparatus 300 according to thethird embodiment can make users aware that the point used for a purchaseis given on condition that a moving vehicle is used in the predeterminedtime zone, thereby allowing the users to effectively use the movingvehicle in the subject time zone. As the result, the informationprocessing apparatus 300 according to the third embodiment can equalizethe usage situation of the moving vehicles to be used.

4-3. Incentive (3)

In the examples described above, a case in which the providing unit 339provides an incentive related to money has been described. However, theproviding unit 339 may also provide an incentive related to a movingroute of a moving vehicle. Specifically, if it is determined by thedetermination unit 338 that a user used a moving vehicle in apredetermined time zone, the providing unit 339 controls, as apredetermined incentive, the moving route of the moving vehicle inaccordance with the user. For example, the providing unit 339 controls,as the predetermined incentive, the moving route of the moving vehiclesuch that the moving vehicle approaches the destination designated bythe user.

For example, it is assumed that the user U1 used the on-demand bus B1between “14:00 and 15:00” in which the usage amount is low. Furthermore,it is assumed that the user U1 previously designates the destination “Tuniversity” with respect to the information processing apparatus 300.Furthermore, the on-demand bus B1 can relatively and flexibly change theoperation route because the usage amount of the on-demand bus B1 is lowbetween “14:00 and 15:00”. Specifically, the on-demand bus B1 have ahigh degree of flexibility in selecting which detour route to be used asthe detour route other than the basic route at the time between “14:00and 15:00” in which the usage amount is low.

Because of this, the providing unit 339 controls the moving route of theon-demand bus B1 in accordance with the user U1, i.e., in accordancewith the destination “T university” of the user U1. For example, even ifthe on-demand bus B1 is not the bus that passes along the destination “Tuniversity” of the user U1 (outside the basic route), the providing unit339 provides the incentive of, for example, changing the moving route ofthe on-demand bus B1 such that the on-demand bus B1 heads to thedestination “T university”.

Consequently, the information processing apparatus 300 according to thethird embodiment can make users aware that the moving vehicle respondsto a user's request for the destination in the predetermined time zone,thereby allowing the users to effectively use the moving vehicle in thesubject time zone. As the result, the information processing apparatus300 according to the third embodiment can equalize the usage situationof the moving vehicles to be used.

4-4. Incentive (4)

Furthermore, the determination unit 338 determines, based on the usagesituation acquired by the acquiring unit 337, whether a user used themoving vehicle running in the predetermined route. Then, if it isdetermined, by the determination unit 338, that the user used the movingvehicle running in the predetermined route, the providing unit 339provides a predetermined incentive to the subject user. For example, ifit is determined, by the determination unit 338, that the user used themoving vehicle running along the route having a longer distance to thedestination from among the routes to the destination of thepredetermined point, the providing unit 339 provides the predeterminedincentive to the user.

Here, as the on-demand bus that is operated between an event venue “hallH” and a “C station”, the on-demand buses B2 and B3 are used asexamples. Furthermore, although the destination (the hall H) and thedeparture place (C station) are common to both the on-demand buses B2and B3, the operation routes connecting the two places are different.For example, it is assumed that the basic route in which the on-demandbus B3 is running is longer than the basic route in which the on-demandbus B2 is running. In other words, the on-demand bus B3 runs theoperation route that is longer than that of the on-demand bus B2.

Furthermore, it is assumed that the current time is “20:30”, the eventperformed in the “hall H” has been ended, and the on-demand bus B2 thatcan arrive at the “C station” earlier than the on-demand bus B3 is verycrowded, whereas it is assumed that the on-demand bus B3 is relativelyless crowded.

In this state, the acquiring unit 337 acquires the usage situation ofeach of the users from the on-demand buses B2 and B3. Furthermore, basedon the usage situations acquired by the acquiring unit 337, thedetermination unit 338 determines which users rode on the on-demand busB2 and which users rode on the on-demand bus B3 between “20:00 and21:00”. Here, it is assumed that the determination unit 338 determinesthat, for example, 50 users rode on the on-demand bus B2 and two usersof the users U5 and U6 rode on the on-demand bus B3.

In such a case, the providing unit 339 provides the predeterminedincentive to the users U5 and U6 who used the on-demand bus B3 that runsa longer route. Many users tend to use the on-demand bus B2 that canarrive at the “C station” earlier even if the on-demand bus B2 iscrowded; however, as an incentive provided in response to having usedthe on-demand bus B3 in spite of this state, the providing unit 339provides the predetermined incentive to the users U5 and U6 who used theon-demand bus B3. Furthermore, this incentive also includes animplication of contributing elimination of congestion of the on-demandbus B2.

Consequently, the information processing apparatus 300 according to thethird embodiment can make users aware that an incentive is provided oncondition that the moving vehicle running the predetermined route isused, thereby allowing the users to effectively use the moving vehiclethat runs the subject route. As the result, the information processingapparatus 300 according to the third embodiment can equalize the usagesituation of the moving vehicles to be used.

Furthermore, in the example described above, the showing unit 135 mayalso propose to use the on-demand bus B3 by showing, to each of theusers, information indicating that, if the users ride on the on-demandbus B3, the predetermined incentive is provided (for example, the fareis decreased from the standard fee).

4-5. Incentive (5)

Furthermore, if a user used the moving vehicle running toward thepredetermined destination, the providing unit 339 provides an incentiverelated to the predetermined destination. For example, if an event V isheld at this destination, the showing unit 135 previously shows theevent information related to the event V to the user.

Then, the determination unit 338 determines whether the user to whom theevent information is shown has used the on-demand bus that runs towardthe event V. Then, the providing unit 339 provides the predeterminedincentive to the user who was determined to have used the on-demand busrunning toward the event V. For example, the providing unit 339provides, as an incentive, a coupon that can be used for the on-demandbus that runs toward the event V and a coupon that can be used at shopsin the vicinity of the venue in which the event V is held.

Furthermore, instead of providing the coupon that can be used at shopsin the vicinity of the venue in which the event V is held as anincentive, the providing unit 339 may also provide, under the conditionthat the user used the on-demand bus running toward the event V, to auser who made a purchase at the shop or had a meal, an incentive, suchas setting the fare of the return on-demand bus to the value lower thanthe standard fee.

Consequently, the information processing apparatus 300 according to thethird embodiment can increase the number of users of the moving vehicleand contribute an increase in sales of the business connected to thedestination.

4-6. Exhibiting Information for an Incentive

The showing unit 135 shows the information related to an incentive. Forexample, the showing unit 135 shows the information related to theincentive that is provided if a moving vehicle is used. As an example,when a description will be given by using an example of modification“4-1”, the showing unit 135 previously shows information related to anincentive to a user who installs the riding guide application AP in theterminal device 10 indicating what kind of incentive the user can obtainthat is associated with information indicating which time zone the useruses the on-demand bus. Furthermore, the information is not limited tothis example, the showing unit 135 can previously show how to use themoving vehicle that is associated with the information indicating whatkind of incentive is provided.

Consequently, the information processing apparatus 300 according to thethird embodiment can motivate to act the behavior targeted for theincentive to be provided.

5. Effects

The information processing apparatus 300 according to the thirdembodiment includes the acquiring unit 337 and the providing unit 339.The acquiring unit 337 acquires the usage situation of a user who used amoving vehicle. The providing unit 339 provides a predeterminedincentive to the user in accordance with the usage situation acquired bythe acquiring unit 337.

Consequently, the information processing apparatus 300 according to thethird embodiment can equalize the usage situation in which the movingvehicles are used.

Furthermore, the information processing apparatus 300 according to thethird embodiment includes the determination unit 338. The determinationunit 338 determines, based on the usage situation acquired by theacquiring unit 337, whether the user used the moving vehicle in thepredetermined time zone or the predetermined location. Furthermore, theproviding unit 339 provides the predetermined incentive to the user inaccordance with the determination result obtained by the determinationunit 338.

Consequently, the information processing apparatus 300 according to thethird embodiment can provide an incentive in accordance with thepredetermined time zone or the predetermined location.

Furthermore, if it is determined, by the determination unit 338, thatthe user used the moving vehicle in the predetermined time zone, theproviding unit 339 provides, as the predetermined incentive, anincentive that is in accordance with the usage amount that is the numberof users who uses the moving vehicle in the predetermined time zone.

Consequently, if the number of users of the moving vehicle in, forexample, the predetermined time zone is small, the informationprocessing apparatus 300 according to the third embodiment caneffectively increase the number of users of the moving vehicle in thesubject predetermined time zone. Furthermore, the information processingapparatus 300 can equalize the usage situation in which the movingvehicles are used.

Furthermore, the providing unit 339 sets, as the incentive that is inaccordance with the usage amount, the usage fee paid for a movingvehicle used by a user to a value lower than the usage fee.

Consequently, if the number of users of the moving vehicle in, forexample, the predetermined time zone is small, the informationprocessing apparatus 300 according to the third embodiment caneffectively increase the number of users of the moving vehicle in thesubject predetermined time zone. Furthermore, the information processingapparatus 300 can equalize the usage situation in which the movingvehicles are used.

Furthermore, the providing unit 339 sets, as the incentive that is inaccordance with the usage amount, the usage fee paid for a movingvehicle used by a user to a value of a fixed amount that is not changedin accordance with the moving distance of the user moved by using themoving vehicle.

Consequently, if the number of users of the moving vehicle in, forexample, the predetermined time zone is small, the informationprocessing apparatus 300 according to the third embodiment caneffectively increase the number of users of the moving vehicle in thesubject predetermined time zone. Furthermore, the information processingapparatus 300 can equalize the usage situation in which the movingvehicles are used.

Furthermore, if it is determined, by the determination unit 338, theuser used the moving vehicle in the predetermined time zone, theproviding unit 339 provides, as the predetermined incentive, a pointthat is in accordance with the usage amount that corresponds to thenumber of users who use the moving vehicle in the predetermined timezone.

Consequently, the information processing apparatus 300 according to thethird embodiment can make users aware that a point that can be used fora purchase is provided on condition that the moving vehicle is used inthe predetermined time zone, thereby effectively allowing the user touse the moving vehicle in the subject time zone. As the result, theinformation processing apparatus 300 according to the third embodimentcan equalize the usage situation of the moving vehicles to be used.

Furthermore, if it is determined, by the determination unit 338, thatthe user used the moving vehicle in the predetermined time zone, theproviding unit 339 controls, as the predetermined incentive, the movingroute of the moving vehicle in accordance with the user.

Consequently, the information processing apparatus 300 according to thethird embodiment can make users aware that the moving vehicle respondsto a user's request for the destination in the predetermined time zone,thereby allowing the users to effectively use the moving vehicle in thesubject time zone. As the result, the information processing apparatus300 according to the third embodiment can equalize the usage situationof the moving vehicles to be used.

Furthermore, the providing unit 339 controls, as the predeterminedincentive, the moving route of the moving vehicle such that the movingvehicle approaches the destination designated by the user.

Consequently, the information processing apparatus 300 according to thethird embodiment can make users aware that the moving vehicle respondsto a user's request for the destination in the predetermined time zone,thereby allowing the users to effectively use the moving vehicle in thesubject time zone. As the result, the information processing apparatus300 according to the third embodiment can equalize the usage situationof the moving vehicles to be used.

Furthermore, the determination unit 338 determines, based on the usagesituation acquired by the acquiring unit 337, whether the user used themoving vehicle that runs the predetermined route. Then, if it isdetermined, by the determination unit 338, that the user used the movingvehicle that runs the predetermined route, the providing unit 339provides the predetermined incentive to the subject user.

Consequently, the information processing apparatus 300 according to thethird embodiment can make users aware that an incentive is provided oncondition that the moving vehicle running the predetermined route isused, thereby allowing the users to effectively use the moving vehiclethat runs the subject route. As the result, the information processingapparatus 300 according to the third embodiment can equalize the usagesituation of the moving vehicles to be used.

Furthermore, if it is determined, by the determination unit 338, thatthe user used the moving vehicle running along the route having adistance longer to the destination from among the routes to thedestination of the predetermined point, the providing unit 339 providesthe predetermined incentive to the user.

Consequently, the information processing apparatus 300 according to thethird embodiment can make users aware that an incentive is provided oncondition that the moving vehicle running the predetermined route isused, thereby allowing the users to effectively use the moving vehiclethat runs the subject route. As the result, the information processingapparatus 300 according to the third embodiment can equalize the usagesituation of the moving vehicles to be used.

Furthermore, if a user used the moving vehicle running toward thepredetermined destination, the providing unit 339 provides an incentiverelated to the predetermined destination.

Consequently, the information processing apparatus 300 according to thethird embodiment can increase the number of users of the moving vehicleand contribute an increase in sales of the business connected to thedestination.

The showing unit 135 shows the information related to the incentive thatis provided if a moving vehicle is used.

Consequently, the information processing apparatus 300 according to thethird embodiment can motivate to act the behavior targeted for theincentive to be provided.

Fourth Embodiment

1. Example of the Riding Intention Determination Process

Each of the embodiments described above indicates an example in which,for example, each of the information processing apparatuses 100, 200,and 300 acquires the attribute information on the users and decides,based on the acquired attribute information, a placement position inwhich a virtual riding point that corresponds to a riding point that isused for a user to ride in a moving vehicle and that is virtually set isplaced. However, an information processing apparatus 400 having thefunction of the information processing apparatuses 100, 200, and 300 mayalso perform the following riding intention determination process beforedeciding the placement position. Specifically, the informationprocessing apparatus 400 acquires a positional relationship between theriding position information that indicates a riding point for a ride ina moving vehicle and the user position information that indicates thecurrent position of the user. Then, the information processing apparatus400 determines, based on the acquired positional relationship and thebehavior information that indicates the behavior of the user, whetherthe user has an intention to ride in a moving vehicle. This point willbe described with reference to the example illustrated in FIG. 14.Furthermore, the information processing apparatus 400 can also berestated as a riding intention determination device.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an example of a riding intentiondetermination process according to the fourth embodiment. A ridingintention determination system according to the fourth embodimentincludes the information processing apparatus 400 and the terminaldevice 10. The riding intention determination process according to thefourth embodiment is performed by the information processing apparatus400 illustrated in FIG. 14. For example, the information processingapparatus 400 is an information processing apparatus that is implementedby a single or a plurality of devices, such as a server device or acloud system, that can communicate with the terminal devices 10 used bythe users via a network, such as a mobile communication network or awireless LAN.

Here, an assumption when the information processing apparatus 400according to the fourth embodiment performs the riding intentiondetermination process will be described. First, in the embodiment, it isassumed that the moving vehicle targeted by the information processingapparatus 400 is an “on-demand bus”. The on-demand bus according to thefourth embodiment is a type of a route bus and, if a user carries out aprocess by using a communication method, such as the Internet, theon-demand bus goes to pick up a user to, for example, a virtually placedbus station via, for example, a detour route that is other than thebasic route. Hereinafter, the bus station that is virtually placed inthis way is referred to as a “virtual bus stop” with respect to aphysically placed bus station (existing bus stop) that is conventionallypresent in a basic route.

The information processing apparatus 400 can place a virtual bus stop atan arbitrary position by taking into account attribute information on auser, road information, traffic situation, and the like and allow theon-demand bus to head to the placed virtual bus stop. However, there maybe a case in which, although the on-demand bus heads to the virtual busstop by detouring from the basic route, the user who is originallysupposed to ride on the on-demand bus is not present, resulting in awasted trip. Namely, the operational efficiency of the on-demand busbecomes worse. To solve this situation, there is a need to accuratelydetermine whether a user has an intention to ride on an on-demand bus.Then, if the user has an intention to ride on the on-demand bus, thereis a need to place a “virtual bus stop” at the position that can beeasily used by the user and guides the user to the placed position.

Based on the assumption described above, the information processingapparatus 400 according to the fourth embodiment acquires a positionalrelationship between the riding position information that indicates ariding point for a ride in a moving vehicle and the user positioninformation that indicates the current position of the user anddetermines, based on the acquired positional relationship and thebehavior information that indicates the behavior of the user, whetherthe user has an intention to ride in a moving vehicle.

Specifically, if the positional relationship satisfies the predeterminedcondition information, the information processing apparatus 400determines that the user has an intention to ride in a moving vehicle.Furthermore, if the behavior information indicating the behavior of theuser satisfies the predetermined condition information, the informationprocessing apparatus 400 determines that the user has an intention toride in the moving vehicle. The two conditions described above, i.e.,the condition information related to the positional relationship and thecondition information related to the behavior information will bedescribed later. Furthermore, it is assumed that the moving vehicle isan on-demand bus. Furthermore, it is assumed that the riding point for aride in the moving vehicle is a physical bus station, i.e., an existingbus stop, for a ride on the on-demand bus. Furthermore, it is assumedthat the riding position information is the position information on theposition of the existing bus stop (existing bus stop position). In adescription below, an example of the riding intention determinationprocess will be described with reference to FIG. 14.

First, the MAP1 illustrated in FIG. 17 will be described. The MAP1illustrates the map around the user U1 who uses the riding guideapplication AP. In the MAP1, the position information on the position ofthe existing bus stop ST1 (an example of the riding positioninformation) is “S-PT1”. Furthermore, in the MAP1, the positioninformation on the position of the existing bus stop ST2 (an example ofthe riding position information) is “S-PT2”. Furthermore, in the MAP1,the current position of the user U1 who uses the riding guideapplication AP is “U-HP11”. Furthermore, in the MAP1, the positioninformation indicating the current position of the on-demand bus B1 is“B-PT1”. Furthermore, in the MAP1, the basic route RT20 through whichthe on-demand bus B1 runs (can also be restated as the route of the path20) is indicated by the dotted line.

In this state, the information processing apparatus 400 determineswhether the user U1 has started up the riding guide application AP.Here, to simplify the explanation, it is assumed that, when the terminaldevice 10 receives an instruction to start up the riding guideapplication AP from the user U1, the terminal device 10 displays, on adisplay screen D, the information related to the existing bus stop thatis previously stored by the user U1 as favorite registration. Asillustrated in FIG. 14, regarding the name of the three existing busstops (the bus stop ST1, the bus stop ST2, and the bus stop ST3) storedas favorite registration by the user U1 and the respective bus stops,the terminal device 10 displays the remaining time needed for theon-demand bus B1 to arrive at each of the bus stops in real time in acountdown display mode.

Furthermore, the reason that such a display is available is thefollowing process is performed by the information processing apparatus400. For example, the information processing apparatus 400 specifies, inaccordance with a request from the terminal device 10, the on-demand busthat is stopping at each of the existing bus stops registered asfavorite registration and acquires the current position information onthe determined on-demand bus in real time at any time. Then, theinformation processing apparatus 400 calculates the remaining time basedon the current position of the on-demand bus, the existing bus stopposition, and the operation speed of the on-demand bus. Then, theinformation processing apparatus 400 sends the calculated remaining timeback to the terminal device 10 so as to display in a countdown displaymode.

Then, the information processing apparatus 400 performs the ridingintention determination process (Step S41). The information processingapparatus 400 determines whether the positional relationship between theexisting bus stop position and the current position of the user U1satisfies the predetermined condition information (condition informationrelated to the positional relationship). Specifically, the informationprocessing apparatus 400 determines, as the predetermined conditioninformation, whether the distance between the existing bus stop positionand the current position of the user U1 is within the predetermineddistance. Furthermore, in the embodiment, it is assumed thepredetermined distance mentioned here is the distance that is estimatedthat the time needed for the user U1 to move from the current positionof the user U1 to the existing bus stop position is shorter than thetime needed for the on-demand bus B1 to arrive at the existing bus stopposition.

For example, by acquiring the position information on the existing busstops ST1 to ST3 registered as favorite registration and the currentposition information on the user U1, the information processingapparatus 400 acquires the positional relationship between the positioninformation on each of the existing bus stops ST1 to ST3 and the currentposition information on the user U1. In the example illustrated in FIG.1, it is assumed that, from among the existing bus stops ST1 to ST3, theinformation processing apparatus 400 determines that positionalrelationship between the position information on the existing bus stopsST1 and ST2 and the current position information on the user U1satisfies the condition information related to the positionalrelationship described above.

Furthermore, the information processing apparatus 400 determines whetherthe behavior information indicating the behavior of the user U1satisfies the predetermined condition information (condition informationrelated to the behavior information). Specifically, the informationprocessing apparatus 400 determines, as the predetermined conditioninformation, whether the user U1 has browsed time information, i.e., thecountdown display, indicating the time needed for the on-demand bus B1to arrive at one of the existing bus stops between the existing busstops ST1 and ST2 that are determined to satisfy the conditioninformation related to the positional relationship. Furthermore, theinformation processing apparatus 400 determines, as the predeterminedcondition information, whether the user U1 has started moving toward theexisting bus stop ST1 or ST2 in the state in which the user U1 isbrowsing the countdown display.

For example, by acquiring the current position information on the userU1 in real time at any time and by analyzing a change in the currentposition of the user U1, the information processing apparatus 400determines whether the user U1 has started moving and determines, if theuser U1 has started moving, which direction the user U1 moves. In theexample illustrated in FIG. 14, it is assumed that the informationprocessing apparatus 400 determines that the user U1 has started movingtoward the existing bus stop ST1.

As described above, if both the condition information related to thepositional relationship and the condition information on the behaviorinformation are satisfied, the information processing apparatus 400determines that the user U1 has an intention to ride on the on-demandbus B1. Thus, in the example illustrated in FIG. 14, the informationprocessing apparatus 400 determines that the user U1 has an intention toride on the on-demand bus B1.

Then, because the information processing apparatus 400 has determinedthat the user U1 has a riding intention, the information processingapparatus 400 performs the information processing for deciding theplacement position in which the virtual bus stop is to be placed (StepS42). This information processing corresponds to the informationprocessing described by using (a) illustrated in FIG. 1 and by usingFIG. 2. For example, the information processing apparatus 400 acquiresthe attribute information on the user U1 and decides, based on theacquired attribute information, the placement position in which thevirtual riding point that corresponds to a riding point that is used bythe user U1 to ride in a moving vehicle and that is virtually set isplaced. For example, based on the moving distance of the user and theuser attribute information, the information processing apparatus 400calculates a moving cost that is the cost needed for the user to movethe moving distance. Then, the information processing apparatus 400decides the placement position based on the calculated moving cost. Inthe example illustrated in FIG. 14, it is indicated an example in which,the information processing apparatus 400 decides the desired position“DP11” designated by the user U1 as the placement position.

As another example, the information processing apparatus 400 may alsodecide the placement position based on the attribute information on theuser U1, the road information around the current position of the user U1(for example, the area within the radius of 200 m centered at thecurrent position of the user U1), and the traffic information on thesite around the current position of the user. As an example, because theuser U1 is moving toward the existing bus stop ST1, the informationprocessing apparatus 400 may also decide the virtual bus stop positionsuch that the distance from the current position of the user U1 to thevirtual bus stop position is shorter than the distance from the currentposition of the user U1 to the position of the existing bus stop ST1.

Furthermore, after having decided the placement position, theinformation processing apparatus 400 shows the user U1 that the user U1can ride on the on-demand bus B1 from the decided placement position(Step S43). For example, the information processing apparatus 400controls the terminal device 10 such that the terminal device 10displays, as the information indicating that a ride on the on-demand busB1 from the placement position is possible, as illustrated in FIG. 14, abutton BT1 with a message “you can ride from a closer place” isdisplayed. Furthermore, although not illustrated, the informationprocessing apparatus 400 instructs the on-demand bus B1 to detour to theroute RT20 in which the desired position “DP11” that has been decided asthe placement position is positioned.

As described above, the information processing apparatus 400 accordingto the fourth embodiment acquires the positional relationship betweenthe riding position information indicating the riding point that is usedfor a ride in a moving vehicle and the user position informationindicating the current position of a user and determines, based on theacquired positional relationship and based on the behavior informationindicating the behavior of the user, whether the user has an intentionto ride in the moving vehicle.

Consequently, because the information processing apparatus 400 accordingto the fourth embodiment can determine, with high accuracy, the user whohas a riding intention, the information processing apparatus 400 caneffectively avoid the situation in which, for example, in spite ofhaving detoured, a user is not present at the point of the detourdestination, which results in a wasted trip. Thus, the informationprocessing apparatus 400 can efficiently transport the user to thedestination.

Furthermore, the information processing apparatus 400 according to thefourth embodiment can shorten the moving distance to a bus stop becausethere may be a case in which a virtual bus stop can be placed at theposition that is closer than that of the existing bus stop position.Namely, the information processing apparatus 400 can enhance theconvenience of users who use an on-demand bus.

2. Configuration of the Information Processing Apparatus

In the following, the information processing apparatus 400 according tothe fourth embodiment will be described by using FIG. 15. FIG. 15illustrates a configuration example of the information processingapparatus 400 according to the fourth embodiment. As illustrated in FIG.15, the information processing apparatus 400 includes the communicationunit 110, the storage unit 120, and a control unit 430.

The information processing apparatus 400 according to the fourthembodiment further includes, in addition to the units included in theinformation processing apparatus 100 described in the first embodiment,a positional relationship acquiring unit 437 and a riding intentiondetermination unit 438. Thus, descriptions of the overlapped processingunits in each of the embodiments described above will be omitted.

Control Unit 430

The control unit 430 is implemented by a CPU, an MPU, or the like,executing various kinds of programs, which are stored in a storagedevice in the information processing apparatus 400, by using a RAM as awork area. Furthermore, the control unit 430 is implemented by, forexample, an integrated circuit, such as an ASIC or an FPGA.

As illustrated in FIG. 15, the control unit 430 includes the receivingunit 131, the acquiring unit 132, the calculation unit 133, the decidingunit 134, the showing unit 135, the instruction unit 136, the positionalrelationship acquiring unit 437, and the riding intention determinationunit 438 and implements or executes the function or the operation of theinformation processing described below. Furthermore, the internalconfiguration of the control unit 430 is not limited to theconfiguration illustrated in FIG. 15 and another configuration may alsobe used as long as the configuration in which the information processingdescribed below is performed is used. Furthermore, the connectionrelation between each of the processing units included in the controlunit 430 is not limited to the connection relation illustrated in FIG.15 and another connection relation may also be used.

Positional Relationship Acquiring Unit 437

The positional relationship acquiring unit 437 acquires the positionalrelationship between the riding position information indicating theriding point for riding in a moving vehicle and the user positioninformation indicating the current position of a user. Furthermore, thepositional relationship acquiring unit 437 may also acquire the movingvehicle position information indicating the current position of a movingvehicle. Furthermore, the positional relationship acquiring unit 437 canalso calculate, based on the acquired information, the information thatis shown to the user. When a description will be given by using anexample illustrated in FIG. 15, the positional relationship acquiringunit 437 can calculate the remaining time for which the on-demand bus B1arrives at each of the existing bus stops ST1 to ST3. Furthermore, theacquiring process performed by the positional relationship acquiringunit 437 may also be performed by, for example, the acquiring unit 132.

Riding Intention Determination Unit 438

The riding intention determination unit 438 determines, based on thepositional relationship acquired by the positional relationshipacquiring unit 437 and based on the behavior information indicating thebehavior of a user, whether the user has an intention to ride in themoving vehicle. Specifically, if the positional relationship acquired bythe positional relationship acquiring unit 437 satisfies thepredetermined condition information, the riding intention determinationunit 438 determines that the user has an intention to ride in the movingvehicle.

For example, as the case in which the predetermined conditioninformation is satisfied, if the distance between the riding point thatis used to ride in the moving vehicle and the current position of theuser is within the predetermined distance, the riding intentiondetermination unit 438 determines that the user has an intention to ridein the moving vehicle. This point will be described in more detail. If,as the predetermined distance, the distance that is estimated that thetime needed for the user to move from the current position of the userto the riding point is within the predetermined time, the ridingintention determination unit 438 determines that the user has anintention to ride in the moving vehicle. Furthermore, the predeterminedtime mentioned here is the time for which the moving vehicle arrives atthe riding point.

Furthermore, if the behavior information indicating the behavior of theuser satisfies the predetermined condition information, the ridingintention determination unit 438 determines that the user has anintention to ride in the moving vehicle. Specifically, as the case inwhich the predetermined condition information is satisfied, if the userhas browsed the content related to the riding point that is used to ridein the moving vehicle, the riding intention determination unit 438determines that the user has an intention to ride in the moving vehicle.

Furthermore, as the case in which the predetermined conditioninformation is satisfied, from among the riding points for riding in themoving vehicle, if the user has browsed the time information indicatingthe time for which the moving vehicle arrives at the riding point inwhich the distance with the current position of the user is within thepredetermined distance, the riding intention determination unit 438determines that the user has an intention to ride in the moving vehicle.More specifically, in the state in which the user has browsed the timeinformation described above, if the user starts moving toward the ridingpoint for riding in the moving vehicle, the riding intentiondetermination unit 438 determines that the user has an intention to ridein the moving vehicle.

3. Example of the Operation in the Riding Intention DeterminationProcess

In the following, the content of the process implemented and performedby each of the processing units (in particular, the positionalrelationship acquiring unit 437 and the riding intention determinationunit 438) will be described by using the flowchart illustrated in FIG.16. FIG. 16 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the ridingintention determination process according to the fourth embodiment.Furthermore, the example illustrated in FIG. 14 will appropriately beused.

First, the receiving unit 131 determines whether information indicatingthat the riding guide application AP has been started up is receivedfrom the terminal device 10 held by each of the users (Step S401). Ifthe receiving unit 131 does not receive the information indicating thatthe riding guide application AP has been started up (No at Step S401),the receiving unit 131 waits until the receiving unit 131 receives theinformation. Here, for example, it is assumed that the receiving unit131 has received, from the terminal device 10 held by the user U1, theinformation indicating that the riding guide application AP has beenstarted up.

Here, it is assumed that the user U1 has registered, in the riding guideapplication AP, the existing bus stops ST1, ST2, and ST3 (ST1 to ST3) asfavorite registration. If the information indicating that the ridingguide application AP has been started up is received by the receivingunit 131 (Yes at Step S401), the positional relationship acquiring unit437 specifies the on-demand bus that is going to stop at the existingbus stops ST1 to ST3 and acquires the current position information onthe specified on-demand buses in real time at any time. Then, based onthe current position of the on-demand bus B1 determined to be stopped atthe existing bus stops ST1 to ST3, the position information on each ofthe existing bus stops ST1 to ST3, and the operation speed of theon-demand bus B1, the positional relationship acquiring unit 437calculates the remaining time needed for the on-demand bus B1 to arriveat each of the existing bus stops ST1 to ST3.

As illustrated in FIG. 14, the showing unit 135 distributes, to theterminal devices 10, the content (favorites screen) that is controlledsuch that the remaining time needed for the on-demand bus B1 to arriveat each of the existing bus stops ST1 to ST3 is displayed in thecountdown display mode.

In this state, the riding intention determination unit 438 determines,as the riding intention determination process, whether the user U1satisfies the predetermined condition information. First, the positionalrelationship acquiring unit 437 acquires the positional relationshipbetween the position information on each of the existing bus stops ST1to ST3 that are the riding points for riding on the on-demand bus B1(collectively referred to as the existing bus stop positions) and thecurrent position information on the user U1 (Step S402). Furthermore, inorder for the positional relationship acquiring unit 437 to acquire theposition information on the existing bus stop position, the informationprocessing apparatus 400 can store the position information on theexisting bus stop positions in a predetermined storage unit included inthe own device.

Then, the riding intention determination unit 438 determines, as theriding intention determination process, whether the user U1 satisfiesthe predetermined condition information (Step S403). Specifically, theriding intention determination unit 438 determines whether thepositional relationship between the existing bus stop position and thecurrent position of the user U1 satisfies the predetermined conditioninformation (condition information related to the positionalrelationship). Specifically, as the predetermined condition information,the riding intention determination unit 438 determines whether thedistance between the existing bus stop position and the current positionof the user U1 is within the predetermined distance. More specifically,as the predetermined distance, the riding intention determination unit438 determines whether the distance is within the range in which thetime needed for the user U1 to move from the current position of theuser to the existing bus stop position is estimated within thepredetermined time. Furthermore, the predetermined time mentioned hereis, for example, the time needed for the on-demand bus B1 to arrive atthe existing bus stop position. Here, it is assumed that, from among theexisting bus stops ST1 to ST3, the riding intention determination unit438 determines that the positional relationship between the positioninformation on the existing bus stops ST1 and ST2 and the currentposition information on the user U1 satisfies the condition informationrelated to the positional relationship described above.

Furthermore, the riding intention determination unit 438 determineswhether the behavior information indicating the behavior of the user U1satisfies the predetermined condition information (condition informationrelated to the behavior information). Specifically, the riding intentiondetermination unit 438 determines, as the predetermined conditioninformation, whether the user U1 has browsed the time information, i.e.,the countdown display, indicating the time needed for the on-demand busB1 to arrive at one of the existing bus stops between the existing busstops ST1 and ST2 that are determined to satisfy the conditioninformation related to the positional relationship. More specifically,the riding intention determination unit 438 determines, as thepredetermined condition information, whether the user U1 has startedmoving toward the existing bus stop ST1 or ST2 in the state in which theuser U1 is browsing the countdown display. Here, it is assumed that theriding intention determination unit 438 determines that the user U1 hasstarted moving toward the existing bus stop ST1.

In the example described here, because both the condition informationrelated to the positional relationship and the condition informationrelated to the behavior information are satisfied, the riding intentiondetermination unit 438 determines that the user U1 has an intention toride on the on-demand bus B1. Furthermore, if the riding intentiondetermination unit 438 determines that the condition information is notsatisfied (No at Step S103), the riding intention determination unit 438waits until the condition information is satisfied. Alternatively, ifthe riding intention determination unit 438 determines that thecondition information is not satisfied (No at Step S403), the ridingintention determination unit 438 may also end the process. In responseto the determination, obtained by the riding intention determinationunit 438, that the user U1 has an intention to ride on the on-demand busB1 (Yes at Step S103), the deciding unit 134 performs informationprocessing (placement position decision) for deciding the position inwhich a virtual bus stop is to be placed (Step S404). The flow of theplacement position deciding process in detail is the same as thatdescribed with reference to FIG. 8 and corresponds to the series ofsteps of the information processing performed by, for example, theacquiring unit 132, the calculation unit 133, and the deciding unit 134.Here, it is assumed that the deciding unit 134 decides, as explained inthe example illustrated in FIG. 14, the desired position “DP11”designated by the user U1 as the placement position.

In such a case, the showing unit 135 shows the user U1 that the user U1can ride on the on-demand bus B1 from the placement position “DP11” thatis decided by the deciding unit 134 (Step S405). For example, asillustrated in FIG. 14, the showing unit 135 controls a display, as theinformation indicating that a ride on the on-demand bus B1 from theplacement position “DP11” is possible, the button BT1 with a message“you can ride from a closer place” is displayed. Then, as illustrated inFIG. 14, the showing unit 135 displays the button BT1, which iscontrolled to be displayed, between the information related to theexisting bus stop ST1 and the information related to the existing busstop ST2.

In this state, the showing unit 135 determines whether the user hasdesired detailed information related to the placement position “DP11”(Step S406). In other words, the showing unit 135 determines whether theuser U1 has pressed the button BT1. If the showing unit 135 determinesthat the button BT1 is not pressed (No at Step S406), the showing unit135 ends the process. In contrast, if the showing unit 135 determinesthat the button BT1 has been pressed (Yes at Step S406), the showingunit 135 distributes the content (assumed to be content C) that is usedto allow the user U1 to indicate the intention to ride from theplacement position “DP11” (Step S407).

For example, the user U1 can indicate, to the information processingapparatus 400 via the content C, that the user U1 has an intention toride from the placement position “DP11”. Thus, the showing unit 135determines whether the indication of intention of a ride has beenreceived (Step S408). If the showing unit 135 determines that theindication of intention has not been received (No at Step S408), theshowing unit 135 ends the process. In contrast, if the showing unit 135determines that the indication of intention has been received (Yes atStep S108), the showing unit 135 shows the guide information related tothe placement position “DP11” (Step S409). For example, the showing unit135 displays, as the guide information, a moving route GD from thecurrent position “HP11” of the user U1 to the desired position “DP11”.

Furthermore, although not illustrated, if the indication of intentionhas been received, the deciding unit 134 finalizes the decision suchthat the virtual bus stop is to be placed at the desired position “DP11”and allows the virtual bus stop to actually appear at this position.Furthermore, based on the appearance of the virtual bus stop by thedeciding unit 134 in this way, the information processing apparatus 400performs control such that the virtual bus stop has been placed at theposition “DP11” can be recognized by the other users other than the userU1 (for example, the other users who install the “riding guideapplication AP” in their terminal devices 10) and a riding desire fromthe position “DP11” can be shown from the other users.

4. Effects

The information processing apparatus 400 according to the fourthembodiment includes the positional relationship acquiring unit 437 andthe riding intention determination unit 438. The positional relationshipacquiring unit 437 acquires the positional relationship between theriding position information that indicates the riding point for riding amoving vehicle and the user position information that indicates thecurrent position of a user. The riding intention determination unit 438determines, based on the positional relationship acquired by thepositional relationship acquiring unit 437 and based on the behaviorinformation indicating the behavior of the user, whether the user has anintention to ride in the moving vehicle.

Consequently, the information processing apparatus 400 according to thefourth embodiment can determine, with high accuracy, whether a ridingintention is present, thereby increasing the operational efficiency ofthe moving vehicle.

Furthermore, if the positional relationship acquired by the positionalrelationship acquiring unit 437 satisfies the predetermined conditioninformation, the riding intention determination unit 438 determines thatthe user has an intention to ride in a moving vehicle.

Consequently, the information processing apparatus 400 according to thefourth embodiment can determine, with high accuracy, whether a ridingintention is present.

Furthermore, in the case in which the predetermined conditioninformation is satisfied, when the distance between the riding point forriding in the moving vehicle and the current position of the user iswithin the predetermined distance, the riding intention determinationunit 438 determines that the user has an intention to ride in the movingvehicle.

For example, if the user is positioned around the riding point of themoving vehicle, the user is highly likely to ride in the moving vehicle.Thus, the information processing apparatus 400 according to the fourthembodiment can determine, with high accuracy, whether a riding intentionis present.

Furthermore, as the predetermined distance, if the distance that isestimated that the time needed for the user to move from the currentposition of the user to the riding point is within the predeterminedtime, the riding intention determination unit 438 determines that theuser has an intention to ride in the moving vehicle.

For example, if the user is present at the distance that is estimatedthat the time needed for the user to move to the riding point of themoving vehicle is within the predetermined time, the user is highlylikely to ride in the moving vehicle. Thus, the information processingapparatus 400 according to the fourth embodiment can determine, withhigh accuracy, whether a riding intention is present.

Furthermore, if, as the distance, the distance that is estimated thatthe time needed for the moving vehicle to arrive at the riding point iswithin the predetermined time, the riding intention determination unit438 determines that the user has an intention to ride in the movingvehicle.

For example, if the user is present at the position from where the usercan arrive at the bus stop earlier than the time at which the movingvehicle arrives at the riding point, the user is highly likely to ridein the moving vehicle. Thus, the information processing apparatus 400according to the fourth embodiment can determine, with high accuracy,whether a riding intention is present.

Furthermore, if the behavior information indicating the behavior of theuser satisfies the predetermined condition information, the ridingintention determination unit 438 determines that the user has anintention to ride in the moving vehicle.

Consequently, by also considering the condition information related tothe behavior information on the user, in addition to the conditioninformation related to the positional relationship, the informationprocessing apparatus 400 according to the fourth embodiment candetermine, with high accuracy, whether a riding intention is present.

Furthermore, in the case where the predetermined condition informationis satisfied, if the user browses the content related to the ridingpoint for riding in the moving vehicle, the riding intentiondetermination unit 438 determines that the user has an intention to ridein the moving vehicle.

The user who browses the content related to the riding point for ridingin the moving vehicle is highly likely to going to ride in the movingvehicle. Thus, the information processing apparatus 400 according to thefourth embodiment can determine, with high accuracy, whether a ridingintention is present.

Furthermore, as in the case where the predetermined conditioninformation is satisfied, from among the riding points that is used toride in the moving vehicle, if the user browses the time informationthat indicates the time needed for the moving vehicle to arrive at theriding point whose distance to the current position of the user iswithin the predetermined distance, the riding intention determinationunit 438 determines that the user has an intention to ride in the movingvehicle.

The user who browses the time information that indicates the time neededfor the moving vehicle to arrive at the riding point is highly likely togoing to ride in the moving vehicle. Thus, the information processingapparatus 400 according to the fourth embodiment can determine, withhigh accuracy, whether a riding intention is present.

Furthermore, in the case where the predetermined condition informationis satisfied, if the user has started moving toward the riding point forriding in the moving vehicle, the riding intention determination unit438 determines that the user has an intention to ride in the movingvehicle.

The user who has started moving toward the riding point for riding inthe moving vehicle is highly likely to going to ride in the movingvehicle. Thus, the information processing apparatus 400 according to thefourth embodiment can determine, with high accuracy, whether a ridingintention is present.

Others

1. Moving Vehicle

In each of the embodiments, the description has been given by using anon-demand bus as an example of the moving vehicle; however, the type ofthe moving vehicle is not limited to the on-demand bus. For example, themoving vehicle may also be a shared taxi. Furthermore, the movingvehicle may also be a manned automobile in which a driver is present ormay also be a self-guided automobile in which no driver is present.

2. Hardware Configuration

Furthermore, the information processing apparatuses 100, 200, and 300according to each of the embodiments described above is implemented by acomputer 1000 having the configuration illustrated in, for example, FIG.17. In the following, the information processing apparatus 100 will bedescribed by using an example. FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating anexample of the hardware configuration of the computer 1000 thatimplements the function of the information processing apparatus 100. Thecomputer 1000 includes a CPU 1100, a RAM 1200, a ROM 1300, an HDD 1400,a communication interface (I/F) 1500, an input/output interface (I/F)1600, and a media interface (I/F) 1700.

The CPU 1100 is operated based on the programs stored in the ROM 1300 orthe HDD 1400 and controls each of the units. The ROM 1300 stores thereina boot program that is executed by the CPU 1100 when the computer 1000is started up, a program dependent on the hardware of the computer 1000,and the like.

The HDD 1400 stores therein a program executed by the CPU 1100, dataused by the program, or the like. The communication interface 1500receives data from other devices via a communication network 50, sendsthe data to the CPU 1100, and sends the data created by the CPU 1100 tothe other devices via the communication network 50.

The CPU 1100 controls an output device, such as a display or a printer,or an input device, such as a keyboard or a mouse, via the input/outputinterface 1600. The CPU 1100 acquires data from the input device via theinput/output interface 1600. Furthermore, the CPU 1100 outputs thecreated data to the output device via the input/output interface 1600.

The media interface 1700 reads a program or data stored in a recordingmedium 1800 and provides the program or the data to the CPU 1100 via theRAM 1200. The CPU 1100 loads the program from the recording medium 1800in the RAM 1200 via the media interface 1700 and executes the loadedprogram. The recording medium 1800 is, for example, an optical recordingmedium, such as a digital versatile disc (DVD) or a phase changerewritable disk (PD), a magneto optical recording medium, such as amagneto-optical disk (MO), a tape medium, a magnetic recording medium, asemiconductor memory, or the like.

For example, when the computer 1000 functions as the informationprocessing apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment, the CPU 1100in the computer 1000 implements the functions of the control unit 130 byexecuting a program loaded in the RAM 1200. Furthermore, the HDD 1400stores therein data stored in the storage unit 120. The CPU 1100 in thecomputer 1000 reads the program from the recording medium 1800 andexecutes the program. For another example, the program may also beacquired from other devices via the communication network 50.

Furthermore, for example, when the computer 1000 functions as theinformation processing apparatus 200 according to the second embodiment,the CPU 1100 in the computer 1000 implements the functions of thecontrol unit 230 by executing a program loaded in the RAM 1200.

3. Others

Of the processes described in the embodiment, the whole or a part of theprocesses that are mentioned as being automatically performed can alsobe manually performed, or the whole or a part of the processes that arementioned as being manually performed can also be automaticallyperformed using known methods. Furthermore, the flow of the processes,the specific names, and the information containing various kinds of dataor parameters indicated in the above specification and drawings can bearbitrarily changed unless otherwise stated.

The components of each unit illustrated in the drawings are only forconceptually illustrating the functions thereof and are not alwaysphysically configured as illustrated in the drawings. In other words,the specific shape of a separate or integrated device is not limited tothe drawings. Specifically, all or part of the device can be configuredby functionally or physically separating or integrating any of the unitsdepending on various loads or use conditions.

Furthermore, the embodiments described above may be appropriately usedin combination as long as the processes do not conflict with each other.

In the above, embodiments of the present application have been describedin detail based on the drawings; however the embodiments are describedonly by way of an example. In addition to the embodiments described indisclosure of invention, the present invention can be implemented in amode in which various modifications and changes are made in accordancewith the knowledge of those skilled in the art.

Furthermore, the “components (sections, modules, units)” described abovecan be read as “means”, “circuits”, or the like. For example, anacquiring unit can be read as an acquiring means or an acquiringcircuit.

According to an aspect of an embodiment, an advantage is provided inthat it is possible to enhance the convenience of users who use movingvehicles.

Although the invention has been described with respect to specificembodiments for a complete and clear disclosure, the appended claims arenot to be thus limited but are to be construed as embodying allmodifications and alternative constructions that may occur to oneskilled in the art that fairly fall within the basic teaching herein setforth.

What is claimed is:
 1. An information processing apparatus comprising:an acquiring unit that acquires attribute information on a user; and adeciding unit that decides, based on the attribute information acquiredby the acquiring unit, a placement position in which a virtual ridingpoint that corresponds to a riding point that is used for the user toride in a moving vehicle and that is virtually set is placed.
 2. Aninformation processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein thedeciding unit decides the placement position based on positioninformation related to the user.
 3. The information processing apparatusaccording to claim 2, wherein, when a riding reservation for the movingvehicle made by the user is accepted, the deciding unit decides theplacement position based on, as the position information, desired ridingposition information that indicates a position desired by the user toride in the moving vehicle and that was designated by the user at thetime of the riding reservation.
 4. The information processing apparatusaccording to claim 2, wherein, when an allocation instruction of themoving vehicle to a current position of the user given by the user isaccepted, the deciding unit decides the placement position based on, asthe position information, current position information indicating thecurrent position.
 5. The information processing apparatus according toclaim 2, further comprising a calculation unit that calculates, based ona moving distance of the user to the position indicated by the positioninformation and based on the attribute information, a moving cost thatis a cost needed for the user to move the moving distance, wherein thedeciding unit decides the placement position based on the moving costcalculated by the calculation unit.
 6. The information processingapparatus according to claim 5, wherein the deciding unit decides theplacement position such that a sum total of the moving cost of each of aplurality of the users is the minimum.
 7. The information processingapparatus according to claim 6, wherein the deciding unit decides, asthe placement position from among the positions indicated by theposition information, a position in which the sum total of the movingcost of each of the plurality of the users is the minimum.
 8. Theinformation processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein thedeciding unit decides, based on the moving cost, the predeterminednumber of the placement positions.
 9. The information processingapparatus according to claim 1, wherein, when a virtual riding point isplaced, the deciding unit decides, based on waiting time of the userestimated at the placement position in which the virtual riding pointwas placed, a placement position in which the virtual riding point is tobe placed.
 10. The information processing apparatus according to claim1, wherein, when a destination designated by the user is accepted, thedeciding unit decides the placement position based on the destinationdesignated by the user.
 11. The information processing apparatusaccording to claim 10, wherein the deciding unit decides, regarding themoving vehicle, the placement position in which the virtual riding pointthat corresponds to the riding point that is used to ride in the movingvehicle associated with the destination and that is virtually set isplaced.
 12. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1,wherein, when expected departure time of the user or desired arrivaltime to the destination designated by the user is accepted, the decidingunit decides the placement position based on the expected departure timeor the desired arrival time designated by the user.
 13. The informationprocessing apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the deciding unitdecides, as the placement position, a predetermined position from amongthe positions in which the moving vehicle can arrive withinpredetermined time after the expected departure time of the user. 14.The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, asthe attribute information on the user, the acquiring unit acquires ageinformation on the user, gender information, information related to ahealth condition, information on a physical disability, and informationwhether or not to accompany an infant.
 15. The information processingapparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a showing unit thatshows the user the information related to the placement position decidedby the deciding unit.
 16. An information processing method performed byan information processing apparatus, the information processing methodcomprising: acquiring attribute information on a user; and deciding,based on the attribute information acquired at the acquiring, aplacement position in which a virtual riding point that corresponds to ariding point that is used for the user to ride in a moving vehicle andthat is virtually set is placed.
 17. A non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium having stored therein an information processing programthat causes a computer to execute a process comprising: acquiringattribute information on a user; and deciding, based on the attributeinformation acquired at the acquiring, a placement position in which avirtual riding point that corresponds to a riding point that is used forthe user to ride in a moving vehicle and that is virtually set isplaced.